Today, Cote d’Ivoire even with a man short fought to beat Burkina Faso 1-0 in the WAFU B U20 AFCON in Togo to leave Group B, which also has the Flying Eagles, wide open.
This result means that the Flying Eagles will now have to beat Cote d’Ivoire Thursday afternoon to stand any chance of reaching the semifinal of this qualifying tournament.
The Ivorians match winner was scored two minutes from full time.
In the first half, the Young Elephants from Cote d’Ivoire were the better team and created most of the chances.
However, poor finishing by the more enterprising Ivorians meant both teams went to the break on par at 0-0.
Burkina Faso were more energised after the interval.
They came out of their defensive shell and created two big chances in the 51st and 57th minutes, but on both occasions they failed to break the deadlock.
Cote d’Ivoire were reduced to 10 men in the 75th minute when striker Konate was sent off for dangerous play.
Burkina Faso continued to threaten the Ivorian goal and had a clear-cut chance in the 83rd minute but again they threw it away.
Then against the run of play, the Elephants struck late to leave this first round delicately poised.
The Cote D’Ivoirian did a good job baby first managing the pressure and went out to get a win .. a good team can lose a game if they didn’t plans how to approach the game on the field of play .
We saw how Ghana black stars could manage their game because they want to win at all cost and at the end lost to Sudan. Approach matters a lot .
Now flying eagles wil want to win at all cost against their next opponent, the results you can guess.. don’t say I told u . The way the coach manages his boys against Cote D’Ivoire wil determine the game .. if they play on pressure to win entering the field. They win loss .
Cote D’Ivoire wil sit back , pack the box and go ahead to score in the 90 minutes or earlier in the morning of the game weñ the eagles are not in theirs halve of the field ie a counter attack goal ..
The eagle need to use tortoise Brain for their opponent, to have any chance of getting a win .
And draw result then bye to next u 20 world cup… Remember u 17 Even the caf people don’t want them to participate.