Nigeria’s U17 side, the Golden Eaglets, will play no part in the next U17 Africa Cup of Nations after a 1-0 defeat to Cote d’Ivoire at the semifinals of the WAFU tournament in Ghana, www.aclsports.com reports.
Manu Garba’s men, who finished top of Group B, faced the runner ups of the other group in the semi-final for a place in the final of the qualifying tournament and the AFCON. Youbah Coulibaly scored the game’s only goal early in the second half to send the Ivorians through.
Nigeria came into this fixture on the back of a comfortable 3-0 win over Togo in their final group game and as defending champions of this competition, much was expected
On the other hand, the Ivorians, who lost 5-1 in their tournament opener, recovered to beat Benin Republic and reach the last four.
The Eaglets struggled with the physicality of the Ivorians and the bumpy University of Ghana pitch. After a goalless first half where Nigeria should have gone ahead through Abdulmuiz Adeleke but the striker fired wired of the post, the Ivorians went in front.
Youbah Coulibaly found some acres of space at the back of Nigeria’s backline before firing past goalkeeper Chinedu Dominic. The Golden Eaglets tried staging a comeback but it was not meant to be as the Ivorians booked their place in the final.
Cote d’Ivoire will face Burkina Faso, who defeated Ghana 2-1 in the other semi-final, for the title. While Nigeria and Ghana will meet in the third place game.
Consequently, apart from missing out on the continental showpiece, Nigeria will also not be at the World Cup for the second successive edition.
