VIDEO: JUBILATION AS THE GOLDEN EAGLETS OF NIGERIA DEFEAT BURKINA FASO TO EMERGE WAFU CHAMPIONS
Nigeria vs Burkina Faso ended 2-1 in favour of the Golden Eaglets who are crowned champions of the WAFU B tournament.
The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have emerged the winners of the 2022 West African Football Union (WAFU) B under 17 tournament following a 2-1 victory against Burkina Faso.
The final was played between the two west African rivals on Friday, June 24, 2022, at the Cape Coast Stadium in Ghana.
The opening goal of the encounter came in the 22nd minute when Abubakar Abdullahi headed home in style to put the Nigerians ahead, Punch reports.
And the Golden Eaglets would have doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Abdullahi missed a golden opportunity to make it two for himself and for Nigeria, but he fluffed his lines, allowing the Stallions a respite.
Nigeria paid for that missed opportunity about seven minutes later when Abdulramane Ouedraogo headed home the equaliser to make it 1-1.
Both sides went into the break with the scoreline level, but barely two minutes into the second-half Nigeria restored their lead courtesy a sensational strike by Abdullahi who completed his brace on the night.
He should have netted a hat-trick in the encounter, but he missed a glorious opportunity to score his third goal of the game. And the Stallions almost took advantage of that loss, but impressive Golden Eaglets goalkeeper Richard Odoh made a magnificent save.
Ebube Okeke hit the crossbar following his brilliant effort from 25 yards out, 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 neighbours Benin Republic in the final to win the WAFU B competition in Niger Republic.
Complete Sports reports that 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.
