WAFU U17
WAFU B U17 Championship: Eaglets cruise into semi-finals, to face Baby Elephants
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets sailed majestically into the semi-finals of the ongoing WAFU B U17 Championship in Ghana with a 3-0 whiplash of Togo’s Baby Sparrow Hawks, that catapulted them to the top of group B and set the stage for a last-four confrontation with the Baby Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire. The match, which should have been played on Wednesday evening, was postponed to Thursday morning after the venue became water-logged following a heavy downpour.
Forward Abdulmuiz Adeleke came up big in the morning encounter with a brace, while Rapha Adams did his rising reputation no harm with his second of the tournament.
Adeleke fluffed an opportunity to put Nigeria ahead in the 6th minute, but made no mistake five minutes later with an assist from Abdulmuiz Oladimeji, to emburden a Togolese side that had lost its previous two games in the championship.
Adams, scorer of the lone goal that earned the five-time world champions all the points against Niger Republic on Sunday, got close in the 20th minute off a pass from Oladimeji, but his hit missed the target.
The forward would make no mistake 15 minutes later, nodding home a sublime pull-out by captain Simon Cletus.
Adeleke got his brace and Nigeria’s third in the 57th minute, off another assist from captain Cletus.
The forward should have made it a hat-trick, but fluffed a penalty kick awarded the Eaglets in the 68th minute.
Nigeria’s Edward Ochigbo was selected as Player of the Match.
Victory meant the Golden Eaglets finished as group B winners, following Burkina Faso’s 1-0 defeat of Niger Republic in the other match of the pool.
Nigeria will now clash with Cote d’Ivoire in the second semi-final on Saturday evening (7pm Nigeria time), after the first semi-final between Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Hosts Ghana lifted the inaugural WAFU B U17 Girls’ Cup on Sunday, but only after a 5-4 penalty shootout defeat of resilient Nigeria at the Ghanaian Centre of Excellence in Prampram, outside Accra.
Minutes after both countries’s senior home-based professionals could not find the net in an African Nations Championship qualifier scores of kilometres away at the Accra Sports Stadium, the girls were buoyant in a four-goal thriller that led to a penalty shootout, which the Maidens won after scoring all five of their spot kicks while Nigeria fluffed one of their own.
Getrude Amoafo put the hosts in front in the 14th minute, and then the irrepressible Priscilla Mensah doubled the advantage five minutes later. It appeared the Maidens would coast to an easy victory, but the Nigerian girls had other ideas.
Precious Oscar halved the deficit in the 34th minute, with a powerful volley right inside the Ghanaian vital area, and Harmony Chidi restored parity in the 78th minute with a long-range strike that flew above goalkeeper Aishatu Fatai.
Defender Taiwo Adegoke handed the advantage to the hosts in the shootout, when she struck the woodwork from six yards, but the Flamingos certainly gave a good account of themselves in a tournament in which they scored 16 goals in four matches, conceding only four.
Benin Republic took the bronze medals with another penalty shootout defeat of Cote d’Ivoire in the third-place match played earlier in the day.
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Scoring sensation Harmony Chidi notched a hat-trick as Nigeria edged Cote d’Ivoire 3-2 in their second match of the WAFU B U17 Girls’ Cup in Accra on Monday.
Chidi, who netted 13 of the 25 goals as the Flamingos crushed everything on their path in Africa to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in the Dominican Republic this year, took matters into her own hands to ensure Nigeria finished top of group B of the inaugural competition.
Following their 9-0 whiplash of Niger Republic on Thursday, the Flamingos finished the group campaign with the six maximum points, and with 12 goals for and only two against, while Cote d’Ivoire, 5-0 winners over the Nigeriens, came second with three points and seven goals for, three against. The Nigeriens finished without a point, and with no goal, 14 against.
The young Ivorian girls will go up against hosts, Black Maidens of Ghana in the first semi-final of the competition on Thursday, before the second semi-final that will see FIFA World Cup quarter-finalists Nigeria tackle neighbours Benin Republic at the Ghana Centre of Excellence in Prampram.
Esther Kwame, who scored the Ivorians’ first goal against Nigeria with a far-distance shot in the 56th minute, and Guasam, who scored from the penalty spot to reduce the tally five minutes later after a foul by Rokibat Azeez, could prove a handful for the Black Maidens on Thursday.
Head Coach Bankole Olowookere has selected FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup scorers Shakirat Moshood and Harmony Chidi among a list of 20 players of the Nigeria U17 girls, Flamingos, for the WAFU B U17 Girls’ Cup starting on Thursday.
There are also goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma, defenders Taiwo Adegoke and Ayomide Ibrahim, midfielder Faridat Abdulwahab, and forwards Peace Effiong and Mary Lucky Nkpa.
The Flamingos are in group B of the two-week competition, alongside the U17 girls of Niger Republic and Cote d’Ivoire, while hosts Ghana will play Benin Republic in group A, following the withdrawal of Burkina Faso. Togo had earlier withdrawn from the tournament.
Nigeria’s U17 girls reached the quarter-finals of the recent FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in the Dominican Republic, scoring nine goals in the group phase, before they were defeated by the United States of America in the Round of 8.
20 FLAMINGOS FOR GHANA 2024
Goalkeepers: Christiana Uzoma (Edo Queens); Elizabeth Boniface (Sunshine Queens); Sylvia Echefu (Bayelsa Queens)
Defenders: Rokibat Azeez (New Generation Academy); Taiwo Adegoke (Remo Stars Ladies); Jumai Adebayo Naija Ratels); Ayomide Ibrahim (Remo Stars Ladies); Prisca Nwachukwu (Heartland Queens); Oluwatoyin Olowookere (Ekiti Queens); Oghenemairo Obruthe (Lagos City)
Midfielders: Shakirat Moshood (Bayelsa Queens); Waliat Rotimi (Nakamura Academy); Farida Abdulwahab (Nasarawa Amazons)
Forwards: Harmony Chidi (Imo Strikers); Peace Effiong (Rivers Angels); Mary Nkpa (Abia Angels); Aisha Animashaun (Naija Ratels); Mary Mamudu (Edo Queens); Precious Oscar (Bayelsa Queens); Janet Akekoromowei (Nasarawa Amazons)
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