24th June, 2022
The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have won the WAFU B U17 Championship after defeating Burkina Faso by two goals to one on Friday night.
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.
In the 34th minute, Abdullahi missed a golden opportunity to make it two for himself and for Nigeria, but he flulled his lines, allowing the Stallions a respite. The miss would knock hard seven minutes later, when Abdulrahman 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 the youth level five weeks after the U20 boys defeated neighbors Benin Republic in the final to win the WAFU B competition in the Niger Republic.
Nigeria goalkeeper Richard Odoh was selected as the Man-of-the-Match. His compatriot Emmanuel Michael won the prize in all three previous matches against Ghana, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire.