Nigeria’s five-time world champions Golden Eaglets won the U-17 Cup, after edging out the Young Stallions of Burkina Faso 2-1 in Friday’s WAFU B U-17 final at Cape Coast Stadium, Ghana.
This was as Flying Eagles of Nigeria emerged champions of the WAFU B U-20 Championship after defeating Benin Republic in the final on Friday, May 20.
The young Eagles defeated the Young Squirrels 3-1 in a thrilling final to become regional champions, having already booked their U-20 AFCON spot by reaching the final.
Eaglets forward Abubakar Abdullahi had threatened the Burkinabe rear as early as the 8th minute when his low drive streamed away from goal, but in the 22nd minute, he rose highest in the box to powerfully nod Emmanuel Michael’s perfect delivery into the net for Nigeria’s first goal.
Read also: Golden Eaglets Pip Burkina Faso, Qualify For WAFU-17 Final
In the 34th minute, Abdullahi missed a golden opportunity to make it two for himself and for Nigeria, but he fouled his lines, allowing the Stallions a respite.
The miss would knock hard seven minutes later, when Abdulramane Ouedraogo, also with a header, equalized for Burkina Faso.
Two minutes into the second half, Abdullahi got his second and Nigeria’s second, taking the Golden Eaglets to a 2-1 lead. However, 12 minutes later, he should have made it a hat-trick and Nigeria’s third but he lost the opportunity.
That loss could once more have proved costly, as the Stallions broke forward, only to see Nigeria goalkeeper Richard Odoh come up with a magnificent save.
In the 67th minute, Ebube Okeke rocked the crossbar from 25 yards, but there were to be no more goals and Nigeria collected a second regional diadem at youth level five weeks after the U20 boys defeated neighbours Benin Republic in the final to win the WAFU B competition in Niger Republic.
Nigeria goalkeeper Richard Odoh was selected the Man-of-the-Match. His compatriot Emmanuel Michael won the prize in all three previous matches against Ghana, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.
When Ugbade spoke
A day before the epic match, Head Coach Nduka Ugbade had urged his players to work assiduously in order to defeat Burkina Faso in Friday’s WAFU B U-17 final at the Cape Coast Stadium, Ghana.
Ugbade said the Golden Eaglets still have grounds to conquer despite securing a ticket to the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations taking place in Algeria next year.
“We are going into the final match, and we are up against Burkina Faso, a team that has won all its four matches in this competition.
“We have also won our three matches here, but we must win the fourth and final one to clinch the trophy.
“Let us not allow Burkina Faso to play five matches and win all five matches.
“We must work assiduously to win all our four matches here to be the only undefeated team of the tournament,” Ugbade said.
