Nigeria’s U20 side, the Flying Eagles, rescued a draw against Ghana in their WAFU B U20 Boys Tournament opener in Accra on Thursday, www.aclsports.com reports.
Aliyu Zubairu’s side laboured for a long period of the game until Abdullahi Abiodun Muhammed headed home a corner in the 83rd, cancelling out Azis Misbau’s first-half strike.
Remo Stars defender Ahmed Akinyele starred at the heart of the backline alongside skipper Daniel Bameyi, while Rawa Muhammed took his place in midfield with Divine Oliseh.
Nigeria struggled to leave their half in the opening exchanges as skipper Daniel Bameyi and Odinaka Okoro went into the referee’s book. In attack, Bidemi Amole could not trouble the Black Satellites’ defence, who were on top of the proceedings early on.
In the 23rd minute, Azis Misbau finished off a fine cutback from the right-hand side to give the Ghanaians the lead at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre in Accra. A well deserved lead going into the break.
Aliyu Zubairu and his boys regrouped after the interval and were getting into decent positions in the Ghana half. The former Elkanemi Warriors head coach turned to his bench and introduced Abduljelil Kamaldeen and Qudus Olayiwola for the ineffective Ezekiel Anthony Kpangu and Tahir Maigana.
The changes improved the Flying Eagles going forward, but they could not beat the Ghana defence. However, Muhammed headed home a corner delivery from Qudus to drag Nigeria level seven minutes from time. The two teams could not be separated as they went ahead to settle for a share of the spoils.
Nigeria will face Benin in their second and final group game on Sunday as they look to secure their place in the semifinals of the competition.
