It is yet another painful U17 AFCON ouster for the Golden Eaglets tonight after they could only manage a 1-1 draw with Cote d’Ivoire.
This loss effectively ended any dreams of Nigeria continuing in the qualifying tournament.
Nigeria finished bottom of Group B with a point from two matches.
Cote d’Ivoire finished second with two points, while Niger won the group with four points.
On Tuesday, Ghana will face Cote d’Ivoire, while Burkina Faso will square up with Niger for places in the championship game.
Tonight, Nigeria put up a much improved performance than what they showed in a 2-1 loss to Niger in their opening group game.
However, they fell behind midway through the first half no thanks to confusion in the defense.
They played with a lot more urgency after the interval and had two glorious chances to even win the match in the closing minutes after substitute John Abiodun drew them level with five minutes left on the clock thanks to a solo run by Colombus Igboenyobe.
Goal scorer Abiodun would have been the hero of the night in the 89th minute, when he went clear on goal in the 89th minute only for him to fire his effort high into the sky with only the goalkeeper to beat.
A minute later, the Ivorian goalkeeper pulled off a super save when he pushed for corner a goal-bound shot by Nigeria.
**CORRUPTION IN FOOTBALL MANAGEMENT,
**SENTIMENT IN APPOINTING COACHES AND
**PLAYERS PAYING BRIBING BEFORE SELECTED INTO TEAM SQUAD WILL NEVER MAKE OUR UNDER AGE TEAM MAKE AN EDGE IN ANY COMPETITION.
AND THIS WILL SPELL DOOM IN DISCOVERY GOOD YOUNG PLAYERS FOR SUPER EAGLE TEAM AND ALSO MAKE RISK FOR SUPER EAGLE NOT TO QUALIFY FOR NEXT WORLD CUP IN 2030.