Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets came close to a stunning comeback from three goals down before losing 2-3 to their Ivorian counterparts in Monday night’s final of the WAFU U17 Cup tournament in the Togolese capital, Lome.
The sleeky Baby Elephants, who had won all their previous three games in the tournament (1-0 over Nigeria, 3-1 over Ghana and 1-0 over Niger Republic), raced to a 1-0 first half lead and then added two more before the 70th minute, leaving five-time world champions, Nigeria crestfallen and looking out of sorts at the Stade Kegue.
However, the Eaglets pulled themselves together and scored two quick goals late in the game to earn a respectable result, as both teams proudly picked tickets to the 2021 Africa U17 Cup of Nations holding in Morocco from March 13 – 31.
Earlier in the evening, Burkina Faso’s Baby Etalons, who lost 0-1 to Nigeria in the semi finals, grabbed the tournament’s bronze medals after an 10 – 9 penalty shootout win over Niger Republic after full time ended 1-1 draw in the classification match.
The Eaglets’ contingent is expected back in Nigeria on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
