U17 World Cup Nigeria 2 Cameroon 2 : Vincent, Ikekhua On Target But Flamingoes Draw

Nigeria and Cameroon played out an exciting 2-2 draw in the first leg of their 2018 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

The match at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City saw the impressive visitors s a draw against all odds.

Nigeria claimed the lead inside the opening 2nd minute when Vincent Precious scored make it 1-0.

Cameroon restored parity six minutes later, with Ngah Manga Marie converting a chance to make it 1-1 and put the match back in the balance.

The visitors continued to look threatening in attack and went ahead through Alice Kameni, who provided a fine finish to make it 2-1 and put Cameroon on course for victory.

However, the visitors' hopes of claiming an away win were dashed in the 54th minute when Osaretin Ikekhua struck a free kick to make it 2-2 and tee up the second match perfectly.

The return leg will take place in Yaounde in a fortnight, with the winner on aggregate to pick one of Africa’s tickets to the 6th FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup taking place in Uruguay later this year.

Nigeria has participated in every edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup since it was launched in New Zealand in 2008, reaching the quarter –finals in Trinidad and Tobago (2010), Azerbaijan (2012) and Costa Rica (2014).

Abayomi Ademetan