Olympic Eagles begin Nations cup campaign on a losing note

Nigeria’s U23 side otherwise called the Olympic Eagles began their campaign at the ongoing Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Egypt Saturday on a losing note.

The Imama Amapakabo led side lost by a lone goal to Young Elephants of Cote d Ivoire at the Al Salaam Stadium.  A 74th minute penalty neatly converted by the Ivoirians was all that was needed to deny the Nigerians any point from the encounter.  Defender Olisa Ndah who had earlier been shown a yellow card by the referee in the 25th minute of the match unfortunately committed another card offence that fetched him another yellow in the 70th minute and subsequently a red.

The resultant penalty was neatly converted by Silas Gnaka for the Ivoirians who had earlier declared a resolve to fight every opponent to the finish in their quest to ultimately pick one of the Olympic tickets at the end of the tournament. Hosts Egypt began their campaign on a victorious note on Friday with a lone goal victory over Mali while Cameroon settled for a 1-1 draw against Ghana.

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Imama and his lads will have to wait till Tuesday to face Zambia in their second match before they can possibly earn a point.