The first half ended barren, after Osinachi Ebere failed to put Nigeria ahead wneh his fourth minute penalty was saved by Mali’s goalkeeper Samuel Diarra, and his rebound hit the crossbar. The golden opportunity had come after the ball was handled inside the vital area by a Malian player and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot.
The Golden Eaglets, however, proved their superiorty on the restart. Tournament’s hot shot Victor Osimhen broke the deadlock in the 56th minute to take his goal haul to 10 and become the highest goals scorer in the history of the championship.
Three minutes later, a rampaging Bamgboye made it two. All efforts by the Malians to gind the Nigerian net proved abortive till the final whistle.
In the losers match played earlier, Belgium defeated Mexico 3-2 to win the bronze.
President Muhammadu Buhari, during whose time as Head of State Nigeria won the first edition of the championship in 1985, had spoken with the eaglets on phone Saturday night, charging the defending champions to return home with the prized trophy.
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