How Golden Eaglets almost escaped defeat in WAFU U-17 final

THE Golden Eaglets came very close to pulling off a miraculous comeback on Monday night but they fell just short.

The Nigerian lads had scored just two goals in three matches in the West African Football Union U-17 tournament on their way to the final, so they were obviously not a high-scoring team.

Therefore when they went 3-0 down to Cote d’Ivoire with just few minutes to go, nobody expected them to recover.

But Fatai Amoo’s boys then started a late fightback that almost pulled them level.

The Nigerians rattled the young Elephants by scoring two late goals as the final ended on an edge-of-your-seat note.

Cote d’Ivoire had beaten Nigeria in the group stage and were cruising again in the final in Lome, Togo.

The Ivorians were quick off the blocks on Monday night, scoring the first goal after 15 minutes.

They then forced Nigeria’s goalkeeper Destiny Emuwahem to make a superb save few minutes later as they overwhelmed the Eaglets.

Cote d’Ivoire made it 2-0 14 minutes into the second half through Abdrumane Konate, and bagged their third goal in the 84th minute through Seydou Traore.

With just six minutes left, the Ivorians thought they were heading to a very comfortable, stress-free victory.

But then the Golden Eaglets, five-time world champions, woke up.

Ahmed Abdullahi struck a brilliant free-kick to make it 3-1 in the 90th minute in what looked like a mere consolation goal.

But when Abdullahi scored again in added time to make it 3-2, the Ivorians became nervous and were praying for the final whistle.

Nigeria’s rally was too little, too late but they restored some of their pride and will head to the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with some confidence.