TheCable

The Golden Eaglets fought hard but succumbed to a defeat by Burkina Faso in their opening match of the CAF U17 AFCON qualifiers in Niamey.

Manu Garba’s boys were beaten 3-2 in the entertaining five-goal thriller on Monday.

Burkina Faso had a two-goal cushion after six minutes courtesy of Albert Outtara and Issa Ouedrago.

Samson Tijani and Olakunle Olusegun were the goalscorers for the five-time world champions who levelled matters at the end of the first half.

In the 79th minute, Burkina Faso clipped the wings of the Eaglets with the winning goal.

The Eaglets will tackle Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday before rounding off the group phase against Benin Republic on Sunday.