U17 AFCON Qualifiers : Coach Manu Garba Gives Two Reasons Why Eaglets Lost To Burkina Faso

Nigeria U17 coach, Manu Garba, was frustrated with Burkina Faso's time-wasting tactics in his side's 3-2 loss at the Stade Municipal, Niamey on Monday, September 3 at the ongoing 2019 Africa U17 Cup of Nations zonal qualifiers.

In addition, the FIFA U17 World Cup-winning manager said that the Golden Eaglets failed to convert several of their chances which contributed to their loss in the opening game in Group B.

With Republic of Benin disqualified from taking part in the zonal qualifiers after ten of their players failed MRI tests, Nigeria must beat Ivory Coast on Thursday to stand a chance of reaching the semifinals.

''I believe if the Burkinabes have not been falling down to waste time, the story would have been different because we dominated possession, we created a lot of chances too but didn't take our chances,'' said Manu Garba.

''This is just the first match, we still have a chance to comeback to the competition. A win against Ivory Coast, maybe, will take us to the semifinals.''

Nigeria have won the World Cup on five occasions, most recently in 2015 but did not take part in the 2017 edition hosted by India.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel