U17 WAFU B Nigeria 3 CIV 1 : Free-kick specialist Michael grabs brace as Golden Eaglets qualify for AFCON

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets on Tuesday defeated Cote d’Ivoire 3-1  in the first semifinals of the WAFU U-17 Zone B Championship at the Cape Coast stadium, Ghana to reach the final and thereby qualifying for the CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria in 2023.

The Ivorians went ahead within the second minute of action when their star man Youle Diamande was brought down by Miracle Ogwor.

Golden Eaglets captain Precious Williams who is naturally a winger but deployed as centre forward by coach Nduka Ugbade was clear on goal in the 15th minute but a wonderful recovery from Coulibaly denied him the chance of scoring.

The Nigerians however restored parity through left back Emmanuel Michael who converted a free kick from an almost impossible angle in the 31st minute.

Michael repeated the trick three minutes before the halftime break with another exceptionally executed free kick.

The Eaglets made it 3-1 with an hour played through Abubakar Abdullahi who headed past the Ivorian goalkeeper.

Makhete N'Diaye was then sent off for his second bookable offence afterwards.

Nigeria midfielder Ebube Okere missed a gilt-edge chance while Precious Williams' delightful chip with four minutes left on the clock could not fetch the fourth goal.

Umar Abubakar came off the bench and almost scored but was unlucky to convert from a tight spot.

Izuchukwu Michael

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