Nigeria’s Under-23 Men’s Handball Team staged a remarkable comeback, finishing with a dramatic 31-31 draw against the United States on the opening day of the 5th IHF Emerging Nations Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.
Coach Solomon Yola tutored sides who only left the country a day before their match, went into the match against the USA who brought a much-changed team from the team that finished 26th in the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship in Denmark to the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship but still had the experience of top players such as Pal Merkovszky and Andrew Donlin in their ranks and were expected to win the match.
The Americans started the match and led 9-2 in the first 13 minutes as Merkovszky had a 50% save efficiency and provided great defensive cover, forcing Nigeria either to turn the ball over or try difficult shots, which had a low chance of being converted into goals.
It is correct to say the first half was for the USA as they won the first half 18-12, with Andrew Donlin scoring 7 goals despite a late surge from Nigeria.
The second half was for Nigeria as goalkeeper, Obinna Okwor, started raking up saves, including some one-on-one situations fueling a comeback for Coach Solomon Yola’s side and they took it with both hands with Faruk Yusuf who plays in the top-flight French league was a key part in that comeback attempt, which saw Nigeria ride a 6:1 run, preventing the American side to score more than one goal in 12 minutes.
By that time, with 12 minutes to go, Nigeria cut the gap to only two goals, 24:22, and boosted by a fantastic performance from Faruk Yusuf, who became the fulcrum of the team’s attack, they even took the lead, 29:28, for the first time, with three minutes to go.
While Yusuf finished with five goals and three assists, USA had the Player of the Match, Amar Amitovic, who scored 10 goals and dished six assists, including the last goal of the match, a converted penalty, which saw the USA save a draw, 31:31, dramatically.
Nigeria and the USA are now tied for the fourth and third place in the standings, with one point each, behind the Republic of Moldova; Nigeria will play against Azerbaijan at 2:45pm on Wednesday.