U17 Nations Cup: Eaglets fail to hit finals, lose 10-9 to Guinea

The Nigerian under 17 side Eaglets Wednesday failed in their desire to play in the finals of this year’s African under 17 Nations cup in Tanzania losing 10-9 on penalty to Guinea in the semifinals.

The Manu Garba tutored side did not find the game cheap as they were out played in the early part of the game.  The team however recovered to get in the main stream of the competition, missing a couple of chances that would have earned them victory especially in the second half.

The hard fighting Guinean side however held their nerves and took the game to goalless draw at the end of 90 minutes.

The resultant penalty shoot saw a harvest of goals on both side with no side willing to lose a penalty until David Oduko ended the scoring rhythm when be ballooned the ball in Nigeria’s last penalty to the delight of Guinean goalkeeper who collapsed in tears of relief. 

The victory will see the Guineans in the finals for the first time in six appearances.  They Guineans have played the third place match a record four times winning in all the occasions and have now succeeded in swapping position with Eaglets who will now await the loser of the match between Cameroon and Angola for a third place clash.

All the four teams have already qualified for the FIFA under 17 World cup in Brazil.

Nigeria has won the Under 17 Nations cup twice, finished as runners up twice, finished in the third place once, the fourth place once and the group stage twice. The final and third place matches will take place on Saturday.