Football enthusiasts have urged the Flying Eagles to improve their game to triumph at the ongoing U-20 African Youth Championship in Algeria.

Nigeria began its title defence of the 12th Orange CAF U-20 African Championship trophy with a 0-1 loss to Mali.

A former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Alloy Agu, told  Tidesports in Abuja that the Flying Eagles needed to improve their game if they hoped to make it into the next round.

“The boys didn’t play badly. It was a good game. However, they need to step up in the next two matches of their group B game if they intend to qualify for the next round,” he said.

Godwin Bamigboye, the Chairman of the FCT Chapter of the Nigeria Coaches Association, in his reaction said that all hope was not lost.

“If they can win their subsequent matches, they still have a chance of going through. However, this loss only makes our hopes for qualification very difficult,” Bamigboye said.

Some football fans who spoke to Tidesports in Abuja after the match expressed confidence in the ability of the team to bounce back.

A businessman, Ebere Umunna, said, “they must go back to the drawing board and analyse what went wrong in the game.

“The Flying Eagles must not give up. They must see this defeat as a challenge which will help to propel them to do better in their next match,” he said.

Femi Oyelade, a property developer, said: “it is a wake up call to the Flying Eagles. I am very confident that they will qualify from their group.

“All they need to do now is to put their acts together.”

However, Danjuma Danladi, a petty trader said: “ I don’t think they will qualify from the group stage. These lads don’t look focused.

“All they did was show off their dribbling skills in the game. You don’t possibly start in a tournament such as this with a loss and expect to go far,” he said.

Other teams in Group B are  Senegal and Burkina Faso.