BEVERLY HILLS, January 08, (THEWILL) – Losing by slim margins has become the bane of Nigeria’s football across the continent in recent times. That scourge reared its head again on Wednesday as Nigeria’s Under-17 national football team, the Golden Eaglets, began their West African Football Union (WAFU B) tournament on a sour note with a 1-0 loss to the Junior Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in Lome, Togo.
Fatai Amoo’s charges went into the clash with the mind to improve on the performances of national teams after below-par displays from the their senior counterparts in the Super Eagles and the Flying Eagles when football activities resumed after the forced shutdowns occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic last year.
It did not pan out as planned. Instead, the Eaglets endured a worse possible start of the tournament as the Elephants dominated the tie in every department, deservedly taking the victory with a lone goal. Unlike what it used to be like in the last, it was the Elephants who showed the desire for the win and the determination to see that desire come to pass.
It took the sharp reflexes of Eaglets’ goalie Destiny Emuwahem to keep the match scoreless in the first period. Several Ivorian chances went begging to be converted as Emuwahem stood resolute between them and the goal.
When the Eaglets got the opportunity to pose any threats on the Elephants’ area, the chances amounted to nothing. Crosses into the Ivorian box often did not lead to goal attempts as the Eaglets failed to command any sort of linkup play.
It was no surprise that the two sides remained deadlocked at the break with the Elephants looking more likely to go ahead than the Eaglets. At the restart, the Ivorians once more dominated proceedings. They were probing and asking questions of the Nigerian defense-line. Emuwahem did his best to keep Nigeria in the game.
It was only fitting therefore Cote d’Ivoire got the goal their efforts deserved when they netted a winner in the 76th minute through the boots of Konaté Abdramane.
The fact that the Eaglets were on the back foot for the majority of the game and were spared a mauling must lead to questions about the tactical input from the bench. The scoreline could have been worse and it no way represents the true summary of what was a mostly one-sided affair.
That is why there must be a review of the preparation, team selection and input from the bench that led to the loss because this is an age-range competition that Nigeria always dominated and something must be deeply wrong for the reverse to be the case where the Eaglets will be so completely outplayed.
Looking only at the scores will simply be overlooking the deeper issues at stake. A slim loss can deceptively becloud the need for serious introspection to get to the root of where the real problems lie. And without that prerequisite introspection, there really will be no way to get to the causes of this gradual decline in youth football even by the slimmest of margins.
The Eaglets now have an uphill task ahead of them in trying to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition after this loss. They will need to convincingly defeat arch-rivals Ghana in their final group game to stand a chance of making it to the next stage. Their first game does not give fans the confidence to bet on their doing that.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
