Nigeria’s national Under 20 team; the Flying Eagles on Thursday recorded a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Cote d’Ivoire to advance to the semi-final of the ongoing WAFU B Under 20 Championship going on in Lome, Togo, www.aclsports.com reports.
Aliyu Zubair’s Eagles went into the game at the back of a 0-1 loss to Burkina Faso in their first group game last week. With the Burkinabes losing to the Ivorians on Monday, the young Eagles knew only a win would see them through and they did just that.
Zubair made two changes to the team that lost to Burkina Faso, replacing goalkeeper Nathaniel Nwosu with Harcourt Ifeanyi while midfielder Raphael Oyebanjo made way for Muhammad Ibrahim.
The first half was a cagey affair as both teams continued their struggles on the synthetic turf of the Stade Municipal du Lome but Nigeria went closest to scoring in first half stoppage time when Bidemi Amole saw his first-time curler cannon off the cross bar after he was teed up by Croatia-based Israel Ayuma.
The Petite Elephants got their noses in front after the hour mark when Christ Ivan Wawa finished from close range after good work by substitute Konan Loukou. The Flying Eagles however struck back almost immediately through Enyimba winger Clinton Jephta who finished after a pass by substitute Sulayman Alabi.
The turnaround was completed in the 67th minute when forward Kparobo Arierhi headed home from close range after an impressive piece of work and cross by right back Adamu Maigari, one of the three El-Kanemi Warriors players on the pitch for Nigeria.
By the result, Nigeria finished top of Group B ahead of Cote d’Ivoire while Burkina Faso crash out despite beating the Nigerians on Match Day One. Nigeria will now face neighbours Niger in the semi-final while Côte d’Ivoire will also face their own neighbours in the second semi-final.
The two finalists will qualify from the WAFU Zone B for the 2025 U20 Africa Cup of Nations.
Picture by Sports Retina – Adeniyi Muyiwa
