The Golden Eaglets are facing a premature elimination from the U17 AFCON qualifiers in Togo after they were held to a 1-1 draw by rivals Ghana today.
Nigeria needed a win to guarantee them passage to the semifinals of the tournament, but they will now have to wait for the result between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire Tuesday to know if they have not been eliminated.
Only a win for the Ivorians will give the Eaglets a chance to go through to the knockout rounds, while a draw will see Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire advance, just as was the case at the U20 AFCON qualifiers in Benin last month.
Substitute Joseph Arumala put Nigeria in front after 83 minutes from the penalty spot after another striker, Abdullahi Ahmed, was fouled inside the box on his way to goal.
However, the Eaglets will soon after concede their own penalty goal after goalkeeper Destiny Emuwahen upended a Ghanaian forward clear on goal.
In the first half, Nigeria created the better chances, but they failed to put away any of them with striker Michael Papo the worst culprit.
Both teams were also guilty of poor finishing after the interval before they finally scored from the penalty spot.
