Nigeria 2 Burkina Faso 1: Two decisions from Ugbade that helped Eaglets lift WAFU B trophy

The Golden Eaglets' performance at the WAFU Zone B U17 competition has been outstanding.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind when the event began at Cape Coast that they were capable of winning the gold medal.

The Golden Eaglets won the trophy after defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 on Friday night in Cape Coast Ghana.

Abubakar Abdullahi headed in an Emmanuel Michael precise cross to give the Golden Eaglets the lead in the 22nd minute of the first half.

Four minutes before halftime, Burkina Faso scored an equaliser after capitalising on a defensive error by Udoh and Olaleke.

Emmanuel Michael's free-kick was fumbled by the Burkina Faso goalkeeper and Abdullahi pounced on the loose ball to give Nigeria a 2-1 lead early in the second half.

Allnigeriasoccer.com takes a look at two decisions made by Nduka Ugbade which influenced the game immensely.

Sustaining pressure

The introduction of Mbata since the last game has been a revelation. Ugbade kept faith with him and the young Eaglet put in a performance worthy of the books.

Mbata helped sustain pressure for long periods of the game and more goals should have been scored if the finishing had been right.

Tempo

In Cup competitions, it is highly important to know when to up the tempo and when to lower it. Nigeria started the game at a frantic pace, it was borderline frightening.

However, when the Burkinabes ramped up the pressure in key moments of the game, the boys tried to slow down the tempo by drawing fouls from the anxious opponents.

Although it wasn't executed perfectly, it was enough to clinch the title.

Sofoluwe Mayowa

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