Nigeria’s cadet team, the Golden Eaglets are again in serious danger of not qualifying for the U17 AFCON after they lost 2-1 to Niger in their opening Group B match yesterday in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The Golden Eaglets are bottom of the group without any points, while Niger advanced to the semifinals of the WAFU B qualifiers with four points from two matches.
Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, who have a point from a 1-1 draw with Niger, will now have to do battle Saturday afternoon for the other ticket to the knockout rounds of the competition.
Niger were the better team and they took a deserved lead in the 20th minute after goalkeeper Mutiu Adedayo fumbled a cross inside his box.
The Eaglets were uncoordinated, struggled to string passes together, while relying on individual brilliance and the hopeful long ball.
Nigeria played with a lot more urgency after the interval, but they hardly troubled the well-organised Niger defense.
It was Niger who scored again with three minutes left on the clock, when they benefited from a quick counter.
Substitute Fasui Mubarak then scored a consolation