The Golden Eaglets finally found their scoring boots against Togo with striker Abdulmuiz Adeleke scoring twice to fire a big warning to the Baby Elephants of Cote dโIvoire ahead of tomorrowโs WAFU B U17 AFCON semifinal.
๐ญ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ณ ๐ค๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ – ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ
— ZONE OUEST B (@UfoawafuB) May 23, 2024
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ ๐ ๐๏ธ
๐ณ๐ฌ
๐ง๐ซ
๐ณ๐ช
๐น๐ฌ#ZONEOUESTB | #๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ pic.twitter.com/dvDjGkAFeE
Central Academy of Abuja striker Adeleke was only denied a hat-trick by the Togo goalkeeper, who somehow saved his penalty kick.
He opened scoring after just nine minutes with a superb left-footed strikerโs goal, before he was involved in the build-up for the second goal netted by fellow striker Rapha Adams.
He held off his marker right up to the box, before he passed on to captain Simon Cletus to deliver a cross for Adams to hit target with a diving header.
Adeleke completed his brace with another left-footed strike for defending champion Nigeria to record their biggest win thus far and march on to the knockout rounds of the tournament.
The big win also meant they avoided high-flying hosts Ghana in the semifinals.
๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐
— ZONE OUEST B (@UfoawafuB) May 23, 2024
๐ณ๐ฌโก๐จ๐ฎ
๐ 25.05.2024
โฐ 8 : 00 pm
๐๏ธ University of Ghana Stadium.#ZONEOUESTB | #๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ pic.twitter.com/zVN2xpMmts
The Baby Elephants have done well to bounce back from the biggest defeat of the competition, a 5-1 mauling by the Black Stars in the opening day game.
They were not terrible as the scoreline suggested, but Ghana simply took their chances to get off to dream start.
A 1-0 win over Benin will subsequently earn them qualification from 3-team Group A after Benin lost their second match 2-0 to Ghana.
WAFU B are yet to announce how many teams will automatically qualify for next yearโs U17 AFCON following the expansion of the FIFA U17 World Cup to 48 teams.
In 2022, only the two finalists of the WAFU B qualifiers, Golden Eaglets and Burkina Faso, advanced to the U17 AFCON.
