…Eke of Nigeria kicked a penalty like a lame man losing a goal at 90+3 minute.
The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria on Sunday posted a sparkles performance against the Junior Chipolopolo of Zambia in the AFCON U17 group B opener winning by a lone goal at the Mohammed Hamlaou Stadium in Constantine.
Favor Oluwasegun Daniel an Attacker from the G12 Football Academy of Nigeria saved Nigeria from a possible humiliation of first loss as he scored a wonderful one from a goal mouth melee in the 76th minute which the Zambian players protested should have been a penalty. It was a rebound that came to Favor that he neatly tucked into the net.
Nigeria dominated the first half but for the several failure of Olawale to string good passes from the right hand. Nigeria would have ended the match in the first half with an avalanche of goals if not for bad passes in the first half.
A terrible moment came when a Zambia defender brought down goal bound Abdullahi of Nigeria in the box but Eke who just came in as a substitute kicked the ball like a lame person straight into the hands of the Zambian goalkeeper in 90+3 minute of the game. Even the Commentator had said Nigeria will end the match with two goals in their favor.
Incidentally Nigeria’s current Head Coach, Nduka Ugbade now white haired but well shaved in Constantine was the first Captain to lift the then Kodak U17 World Cup in China in 1985 which I covered as a reporter then.
Golden Eaglets were highly resisted in the match by Zambian defenders who could decode their numerous passes.
Nigeria did not really sparkle on the stats table having 16 shots with 6 on target against 13 shots from Zambia with 3 on target; Possession was 53-47% in favor of Nigeria; Passes was stunning as Nigeria by reckoning had 464 passes with 67% accuracy and Zambia had 418 passes 64% accuracy. The foul record was a split decision 13-12 to Nigeria and the only yellow card was given to the Zambian defender who brought down Abdullahi in the box but the corner kicks of 7-4 shows Nigeria needs to upgrade their set pieces.
The match between Morocco and South Africa coming up at 2000 hours of Sunday (today) in Group B may determine who tops the group at the end of the first round but Nigeria temporarily stands there for now.
In the first match played today, Senegal beat Congo by a lone goal in a Group A match. On Tuesday, 2nd May hosts Algeria will play Senegal at 1700 hours while Congo will tackle Somalia at 2000 hours for the second round matches.
Tomorrow Monday, Group C will take the stage with lions of Cameroun versus South Sudan at 1700 hours before Mali will battle Burkina Faso at 2000 hours. The Match between Cameroon and Sudan will however not take place because CAF had dismissed Sudan as five of her players failed the MRI test which is a medical device for bone age determination in Sports.
Eniola Olatunji reporting for Patmos Media Line.
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