Nduka Ugbade expressed relief after Nigeria team earned a spot in the quarter finals of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations following a thrilling 3-2 victory over South Africa on Saturday.

The Nigeria U17 MNT had to force a win after going behind twice, and finished second in the group behind Morocco; sealing automatic progress to the last Eight.

“It was a really tough match because South Africa is a really good team and they gave us a tough time,” Ugbade said.

“They have three players that are really good; Mabena (Siyabonga), Mkhawana (Vicky) and Dokunmu (Michael). They are very talented players and I was honestly scared of them at first.

📹 HIGHLIGHTS: 🇿🇦 2-3 🇳🇬

Nigeria sees off South Africa in a 5-goal thriller 🔥 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 | @Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/NH0X1VTfI7

— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 2023 🏆 (@CAF_Online) May 7, 2023

“We worked a bit in training and we did some corrections. We realized that it was purely psychological and we talked to the players and we saw an improvement today. We might have conceded two but I am glad we scored three,” Ugbade explained.