The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have failed in their bid to make it to the final stage of the ongoing Africa U-17 Cup of Nations in Tanzania.
The Nigerian lads were beaten 10-9 by their Guinean counterparts in Wednesday’s semifinal contest at the National Stadium in Dar es Salam.
In the all West African affair, both the Eaglets and the Junior Syli Nationale stars fired blanks in the regular 90 minutes, hence the tie was decided via penalty kicks.
Ogaga Oduko lost his kick in the thrilling penalty session, giving the game to the Guineans to win.
The Golden Eaglets were eyeing a third continental title having only recorded successes in 2001 and 2007. They did give a good account of themselves right from the opening game against the hosts, Tanzania, who they beat 5-4 in a thrilling nine-goal thriller.
The team then defeated Angola before playing a draw with Uganda to finish top in Group A.
Nigeria had late chances to win Wednesday’s semifinal game but the Guineans held firm to extend the game to a penalty shootout.
After a succession of topnotch penalty kicks, left-back Oduko flashed his effort high to gift Guinea U17 a spot in the final.
The Golden Eaglets will now play the loser between Cameroon and Angola for the third place.
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