Nigeria’s hope of going to the FIFA U-17 World Cup as African champions was dealt a big blow yesterday as the Golden Eaglets were beaten in the semi-final of the ongoing U-17 African Youth Championship (AYC).
The Nigerian cadet side lost 1-0 to their South Africa U-17 opponents in the semi-final of the 11th African U-17 Championship in Niger Republic yesterday evening.
Khanyisa Mayo’s 26th minute strike silenced the Golden Eaglets who failed in their bid to come back in the second half of the tension soaked encounter played at the Stade General Seyni Kountche, Niamey.
Going into this encounter, Nigeria had topped Group A while the South African who were facing the Eaglets for the second time in the history of this competition were runners up in Group B, and many had tipped the reigning world champions to make a mince meat of the Amajimbos who failed to make the last three editions of the tournament.
Coach Emmanuel Amuneke’s team who have already booked a place to the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile will now face the losers of the 2nd semi final clash between Mali and Guinea on March 1 at the Stade General Seyni Kountche, Niamey.