The Flying Eagles recovered from their opening day loss to Mali by beating the Panthers of Gabon 1 - 0 on Wednesday at the African Youth Championship courtesy of a 20th minute goal by skipper Abduljeleel Ajagun, who scored from the spot after striker Kayode Olarenwaju was fouled.

The Nigerians, defending champions of the tournament for footballers less than 20 years, failed to kill the game by scoring the vital second goal and were almost punished in injury time but Meye Me Ndong's shot was deflected for a corner.

In his post match comments, coach John Obuh admitted that his wards failed to convert several scoring opportunities and stressed that the Gabon Under 20 was a good team.

''We thank God for this victory, but we were again missing chances. Our problem of scoring goals gave Gabon the strength to fight back.

“Also, we came up against a very different and better Gabon than the team we saw draw 0-0 with DR Congo on Sunday. They were better than we expected,''John Obuh said.

The Flying Eagles would qualify for the Fifa Under 20s in Turkey if they beat DR Congo in their last group game on Saturday.