The Nigeria U17 team were beaten 2-3 by their Burkina Faso counterparts in their first game at the ongoing WAFU B African U17 Qualifiers Championship taking place in Norway, Owngoalnigeria.com reports.
Nigeria went two goals down ten minutes into the game after conceding a soft penalty in the opening exchange and another through defensive mix up. A score which brought out the fighting spirit in the Nigerian team.
Olakunle Olusegun scored twice for Nigeria before the half time break to draw the Golden Eaglet level with his second coming from the spot after he was brought down in the box.
The coach Manu Garba led boys dominated the second half with slick exchange of passes but failed to find the final ball into the box of their opponent, who were defending in numbers.
With Nigeria looking the likeliest to score, Burkina Faso took the lead courtesy of a strong solo run from a counter attack swiftly finished by Moubarack Compaore with less than twenty minutes left to play.
Tried as they could the Nigerian team failed to draw level as Burkina Faso ran out 3-2 winners leaving the Nigerian team with a whole lot to do in their next game against Ivory Coast, and a 2-0 win will be good enough for them to progress to the semi finals.
Ade Emmanuel
