Dramatic Draw: Nigeria's Young Guns Show Courage in 31-31 Handball Thriller

Bravely is how to describe Nigeria's Under 23 Handball Men Team, as they came from the brink to play a dramatic 31-31 draw with the United States of America on the opening day of the 5th IHF Emerging Nations Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.

The Coach Solomon Yola tutored sides who  left the country only 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 Yankees 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 to either turn the ball over or try difficult shots, which had a low chance of being converted into goals.

However, it is correct to say that 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 the Africans as goalkeeper, Obinna Okwor, started raking up saves, including one-on-one situations fueling a comeback for Coach Solomon Yola's side and they took it with both hands as Faruk Yusuf who plays in the French league was a key part in their comeback attempt, which saw Nigeria ride a 6:1 run, thereby preventing the Americans from scoring more than one goal in 12 minutes.

Nigeria cut the gap when it was 12 minutes to go, trailing with only two goals, 24:22, and boosted by a fantastic performance from Faruk Yusuf, who became the fulcrum of the team’s attack as  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, scoring 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.

With this result, Nigeria and the USA are now tied for the second and third place in the standings, with one point each, behind the Republic of Moldova; Nigeria will  now play against Azerbaijan at 2:45pm on Wednesday

Story by Ibrozano Adams