The Golden Eaglets could not keep a fourth consecutive clean sheet at the 2024 WAFU B U17 AFCON qualifiers after suffering a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast in a semifinal clash played on Saturday night at the University of Ghana Stadium.
Ivory Coast started the game on the front foot and got the first shot on target of the game after a defensive mistake from the Nigerian defence.
The Golden Eaglets finally got the chance to threaten the Ivorian goal in the 32nd minute with Simon Clitus intercepting a pass before passing to Abdulmuiz Adeleke who couldn’t convert the chance to goal.
Ivory Coast came close to getting the opener in the stoppage time of the first half after breaching the Nigerian defence but couldn’t get their effort on target.
Four minutes after the restart, they threatened the Golden Eaglets goal yet again but a last ditch block prevented them from putting the ball into the back of the net.
The Baby Elephants finally opened the scoring in the 55th minute through Youbah Koulibaly whose well placed shot couldn’t be stopped by Chinedu Dominic.
The Ivorians came close to doubling their lead in the 73rd minute when they stretched the Eaglets defence but couldn’t generate enough effort that could trouble Dominic.
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Manu Garba’s boys came close to restoring parity after Rapha Adams set up Cletus but the latter’s effort was incredibly blocked.
They would get a chance from the resulting corner kick but Imrana Muhammad’s towering header couldn’t find the target.
Adams tried getting the equalizer with an ambitious overhead kick but he couldn’t generate enough power and precision to put his effort into the back of the net.
Five minutes before the end of the regulation time, John Ogwuche brilliantly worked his way into a dangerous area, passed to Adeleke who couldn’t put his effort down.
Ogwuche also tried his luck in finding the equalizer few seconds into the stoppage time but his shot couldn’t hit the target.
Ivory Coast could have doubled their lead just few seconds from the final whistle but got denied by a brilliant stop from Dominic.
