Nigeria’s U-20 team, the Flying Eagles, will today take on their counterpart from South Korea, in the FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinal match, at the Santiago del Estero Stadium.

Both nations have been impressive in the process of reaching this year’s U20 World Cup quarterfinals. The Taegeuk Warriors claimed a first win since their opening-day victory over France when they edged out Ecuador 3-2 in the last 16, while the Flying Eagles soared through with a terrific 2-0 win over hosts Argentina.

Today’s encounter is the third between Nigeria and South Korea at the U-20 level. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 pm Nigerian time.

Flying Eagles skipper has been speaking to Fifa.com ahead of the mouthwatering tie.

“Yeah. This is football. Everything can happen, and any team is beatable. As my coach would always say, ‘We just have to be disciplined, dedicated, do our job, and concentrate.’ Let’s see how it goes, but I believe in this team. We can do it.

“First of all, there is no small team in the World Cup. Every team in this competition is good. You must respect every team. Then any team in the knockout stage is obviously very good. I think the Koreans are a very good team. They have beaten other very good teams. I think they have very good players. We have a lot of respect for them,” Bameyi said.

Stats

• Korea Republic have been successful in two of their previous five U-20 World Cup quarter-final ties.
• Four of Nigeria’s last five U-20 World Cup quarter-final ties have required extra time.
• Korea Republic are aiming to reach the semi-finals for the third time. They are already the only AFC nation to feature more than once in the last four
• Nigeria have won their last four U-20 World Cup matches against AFC nations, including a 1-0 victory against Korea Republic in the 2013 group stage.

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