Golden Eaglets crash out of U17 AFCON, lose FIFA World Cup ticket
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, late Thursday night, crashed out of the ongoing U-17 African Nations Cup (AFCON) in Algeria after they suffered a 1-2 against fellow West African side, Burkina Faso.
The match played inside the Nelson Mandela Stadium, in Algiers, TYhursday night, at 8pm, saw the Eaglets hit the post twice and conceding a penalty in the 55th minute which saw the Junior Burkinabes double their first half lead by 2-0.
The Golden Eaglets had gone down in the 44th minute via a defensive blunder committed by Tochukwu Ogboji.
A 56thpenalty awarded to Burkina Faso saw them double their lead.
The Golden Eaglets, however, reduced the tally in the 67th minute through an Abubakar Abdullahi’s strike but could not find the equalizer before the close of the match.
It was also a perfect revenge for the Burkina Faso starlets who suffered a similar defeat by same scoreline when the Golden Eaglets clinched the U17 West African Football Union (WAFU) Nations Cup in Ghana.
The Eaglets won that match and the WAFU trophy against Burkina Faso by 2-1.
The latest defeat means Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets will not be at the FIFA U17 World Cup as the AFCON tournament picks the four semi finalists automatically for the global championship.
The Golden Eaglets reached the quarter final stage of the competition after finishing second behind Morocco in Group B with six points from two wins against Zambia and South Africa, and a 1-0 loss to Morocco.
With the win against the Nigerian team, Burkina Faso have qualified for the semi finals and with it a ticket to participate at the FIFA U17 World Cup.
