TheCable

Ahmed Abdullahi’s brace failed to lift the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria as they fell 2-3 to Ivory Coast in the final of the WAFU B U-17 tournament.

In the thrilling encounter at the Stade De Kegue in Lome on Monday night, the five-time world champions scored twice but could not spring the much-needed surprise comeback to defend the title they won two years ago.

Sindou opened the scoring for the Ivorians in the 15th minute of play while Abduramane Konate doubled their lead in the 56th minute.

FT in Lome.

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Cote D’Ivoire U17 3-2 Nigeria U17.

Though they lost, they put in a good shift and a strong character in the second half. Coach Amoo certainly saddled with more work before the U17 Afcon in Morocco. #SoarGoldenEaglets#Team9jaStrong

— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) January 18, 2021

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Seydou Traore compounded Fatai Amoo’s boys woes when he came off the bench to net Ivory Coast’s third goal of the night.

The Eaglets’ resilience and determination paid off when Abdullahi, who came on for Vincent Osuji in the 65th minute, scored a brace for the Nigerian side.

Last-minute efforts by the Golden Eaglets were not enough as the match ended 3-2 in favour of the Ivorians.

The Eaglets have already picked their ticket for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco later in the year.

Earlier in the evening, Burkina Faso’s Baby Etalons, who lost 0-1 to Nigeria in the semi-finals, grabbed the tournament’s bronze medals after beating the Niger Republic in penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw at regulation time.

The Golden Eaglets’ contingent is expected back in Nigeria on Tuesday.