The Nigeria U23s made a winning start to their friendlies in the United States, beating Charleston Battery 1-0 on Sunday morning at Silverbacks Park.<br /><br />The friendly match was scheduled to hold on Saturday evening local time but was called off due to a flooded pitch despite both teams agreeing to go ahead with the game.<br /><br />Nigeria enjoyed more possession than their youthful opponents in the opening fifteen minutes and would have taken the lead in the 20th minute, but Tambakis parried a shot over the bar before saving another shot in the 29th minute. <br /><br />But just four minutes later, <span>Olhanense defender Stanley Amuzie scored what turned out to be the game-winner, firing home a beauty.<br /><br />In first half injury time, the American team thought they had restored parity through Tsonis but his goal was disallowed by the referee.<br /><br />The Samson Siasia-led side could have had more than their solitary strike in the second half but lost their scoring chances, including a free kick that rang off the near post three minutes out of intermission. <br /><br />The highly-rated teenager Patrick Okonkwo entered into the fray for </span>Charleston Batteryin the 66th minute and the striker fired blanks.<br /><br />Next up for the Nigerians is another test game against Honduras on July 27 .<br /><br />Ifeanyi Emmanuel <br /><br />Photo Credit : thenff.com<br />