BEVERLY HILLS, January 13, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Under-17 national team, the Golden Eaglets, whose 1-1 draw with the Black Starlets of Ghana threatened to jeopardise their chances of qualifying for the semi-final of the U-17 WAFU-B competition holding in Lome, Togo were given a lifeline after the clash between the Little Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana’s U-17 team.
Coach Fatai Amoo’s wards are grouped alongside Ghana and Ivory Coast in a three-team Group B. In their two games, they managed to secure only one point, losing by a lone goal against Cote d’Ivoire in the first match and drawing 1-1 against Ghana in the second.
These unsavoury results brought them to the brink of elimination from the group phase of the qualifiers. However, fortune smiled upon them in the final group tie as Cote d’Ivoire’s Little Elephants beat Ghana’s Black Starlets 3-1.
Based on this result, the Eaglets will finish in second place on one point and a goal difference of minus one, while Ghana will drop to the bottom of the group with their single point, equal with Nigeria, but with a goal difference of minus two to their disadvantage.
With this lifeline, the Eaglets have been accorded another shot at redemption as they progress to the semi-finals. On Friday, January 15, they will clash with the U-17 team from Burkina Faso in one of the semi-finals, while the Little Elephants are up against Niger Republic’s U-17 unit in the other, in Lome.
Both winners of this pair of semi-final fixtures automatically qualify for the Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations AFCON, Morocco 2021.
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.
