Flying Eagles fall to Burkina Faso, progress to WAFU-B U-20 semifinals
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles qualified for the semi-finals of the WAFU B U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers despite suffering a 2-0 defeat to Burkina Faso in their final Group B match at the Lycée Scientifique Stadium in Yamoussoukro on Sunday.
The result saw Burkina Faso finish top of the group with seven points, while Nigeria secured second place on six points to book their place in the last four of the regional tournament.
Having already boosted their qualification hopes with consecutive victories over Ghana and Togo, the Flying Eagles needed only to avoid a heavy defeat to progress. However, Burkina Faso produced a clinical display to claim all three points and leapfrog Nigeria to the summit of the standings.
Aliyu Zubairu’s side had begun the competition in impressive fashion, defeating regional rivals Ghana 4-2 before easing past Togo 3-0 to move to the brink of qualification. Sunday’s defeat, however, denied the seven-time African champions a perfect finish to the group stage.
Despite the setback, Nigeria achieved their primary objective of reaching the knockout stage and will now shift their attention to Wednesday’s semi-final against tournament hosts Côte d’Ivoire.
Burkina Faso, buoyed by their victory over the Flying Eagles, will face Niger in the other semi-final as they continue their quest for the regional title.
The Flying Eagles will be hoping to quickly put the defeat behind them and rediscover the attacking form that yielded seven goals in their opening two matches as they target a place in the final.
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