Nigeria U17 men’s football team, the Golden Eaglets, made fried steak out of U17 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) opponents, Cote d’Ivoire, defeating them 5-1 in their qualifying series encounter on Thursday evening.
Total defeat
Goals from Olakunle Olusegun and Olatomi Olaniyan put Nigeria two goals up within the first ten minutes of the game.
Three more goals from Hassan Hussain, Oluwatimilehin Adeniyi and Akinwunmi Amoo ensured the game was well beyond the Baby Elephant’s reach.
The Ivorians, however, managed to pull a goal back from the penalty spot late in the game to put the scores 5-1 at full-time.
Having lost their qualifying opener against Burkina Faso, the Golden Eaglets needed a win, which they assertively took yesterday against the Baby Elephants. Now they will wait till the weekend when Burkina Faso face Cote d’Ivoire, to know their fate.
According to the newly approved system for the competition, countries drawn into the same regional group will converge in one country to play a qualifying tournament, and only the winning team from each group (apart from the group of the defending champions which will produce two teams) will qualify for the tournament next year in Tanzania.
