The Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Wednesday lost 1-0 to the Black Satellites of Ghana in the ongoing WAFU U-20 Championship in Benin Republic.
The result had almost dimmed any chance of the team qualifying for the semi-finals, after they drew their first match with Cote d’Voire.
The Ladan Bosso tutored boys were
forced to a 1-1 draw by the Junior Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in their opening group game.
The first half of the keenly contested match against Ghana was dominated Nigeria, but the boys blew their chances in front of goal.
Nigeria had a goal scored in the first half by Wisdom Ubani, but it was disallowed by the centre referee for offside.
The second half resumed with Nigeria still pressing, but it was Ghana that broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute through a superb free-kick .
Nigerian coach, Bosso swiftly made the necessary changes in order to equalise, but the Ghanian team defended well as a unit to neutralise all the threats from Nigeria.
Nigeria’s hope of qualifying now hinges on Ghana beating Cote d’Ivoire by more than a goal.
The winner of the WAFU U-20 Zone B championship automatically qualifies for the 2021 CAF U-20 AFCON in Mauritania.