The Golden Eaglets today qualified for the U17 AFCON in Morocco in July after they stunned “favourites” Burkina Faso 1-0 in the semifinal of the qualifying tournament in Lome, Togo.
#GoldenEaglets XI against #BurkinaFaso U17 at the Stade De Kegue, Lome. Click any of these links to watch live: https://t.co/IjprLBmkeC , https://t.co/413RJkb7E8 KO- 5pm #SoarGoldenEaglets #Team9jaStrong #WafuU17 #NGABFA pic.twitter.com/sQHlPlxseZ
— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) January 15, 2021
The match winner was striker Michael Emmanuel Papo, who made up for missing the team’s biggest chance of the first half by plodding a long ball beyond the Burkina Faso goalkeeper in the 79th minute.
They will now await the winners of the other semifinal between Cote d’Ivoire and Niger to determine the winners of the qualifiers WAFU B Monday.
Today, the Eaglets put up a much improved performance than their previous two matches.
They camped in the half of Burkina Faso at the start of this clash.
It was a physical contest with many stoppages as both teams created very little.
Just before the interval, Papo’s shot from outside the box with the opponents’ defence back tracking was too weak and direct to trouble the goalkeeper of Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso, on the other hand, tried to get to the Nigerian goal through the left flank, but they were repulsed by a resolute Eaglets defence.
They had at least two free kicks in good positions, but failed to make the most of them.
Nigeria goalkeeper Destiny Emuwahen was outstanding, pulling off a point-blank save to deny the Young Etalons in the second period.
Papo will then rise to the occasion with his goal late in the second half to lift Nigeria to the U17 AFCON as well as the final of qualifiers.
