Nigeria Under 20s, the Flying Eagles were beaten 0-1 by Burkina Faso in their opening game of their WAFU B Under 20 Championship title defence in Lome, Togo, www.aclsports.com reports.
Nigeria’s U20 Class of 2024 are coached by El-Kanemi Warriors head coach Zubair Aliyu but his side wobbled badly on the worn AstroTurf surface of the Stade Municipal du Lome on Friday evening.
The Nigerians sought to control proceedings in the first half which they did to a large extent but failed to find a way past the brick wall of the Burkinabe mid-blocks with the Flying Eagles failing to fashion out a scoring opportunity.
Burkina Faso became better after the break and inevitably took the lead in the 66th minute through Fandino Coulibaly who slammed home from close range after the Nigerian defence were caught ball-watching in a dead ball situation.
The Nigerians failed to find a way back into the game from then on and could only huff and puff till the end of the game, giving Burkina Faso a hugely important win.
The Young Etalons will face Côte d’Ivoire U20s in their second group game on Monday while the Flying Eagles will have to wait till Thursday before playing their second and final group game against the Petite Elephants.
Nigeria are the defending champions of the competition but must win their next game if they hope to make a successful defence and qualify for the 2025 U20 Africa Cup of Nations.
Flying Eagles Team: Nathaniel Nwosu – Adamu Maigari, Kenneth Igboke, Daniel Bameyi (Captain), Haruna Aliyu – Raphael Oyebanjo (Sabiu Ibrahim 77′), Israel Ayuma (Suleyman Alabi 62), Nasiru Salihu (Divine Oliseh 62) – Bidemi Amole, Kparobo Arierhi, Clinton Jephta (Musa Akinfenwa 62)
