Captain Timothy Ijachi once again provided the goals and the leadership despite the Future Eagles losing their first game at the FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival.

The Patrick Bassey-coached Future Eagles finally succumbed to superior firepower, losing 3-6 to their counterparts from the Benin Republic on Wednesday evening.

Timothy Ijachi has been quite a revelation in Azerbaijan, Baku.

One For The Future: Timothy Ijachi

He scored in the opening-day 3-3 draw with South Sudan, netted in the 2-2 draw with Jordan on Sunday morning, and then hit a brace in the 3-3 draw with The Gambia on Sunday evening.

On Monday morning, he was on song again, scoring the winner in the 2-1 win over Cyprus, and hours later, scored Nigeria’s only goal in the 1-1 draw with Pakistan.

On Wednesday, he made it a hat-trick in the 7-0 rout of New Caledonia, before hitting another brace in the loss to the Benin Republic.

Benin Republic Hands Nigeria First Loss

Ijachi netted twice to reach 11 goals in the tournament, while Wisdom Boniface scored Nigeria’s other goal for his second of the competition.

After going six matches unbeaten at the ongoing FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan, Nigeria suffered a first loss.

Earlier in the day, Nigeria’s Future Eagles recorded their biggest win at the U-15 World Cup, with a [7-0] mauling of New Caledonia.