African U-17 Championship: Eaglets lose bronze to Guinea

THE hope of Nigeria's Golden Eaglets to return home with a bronze medal at the 11th African U-17 Championship which ended on Sunday in Niger Republic, was dashed in Niamey, as they lost 1-3 to the young Syli Nationale of Guinea.Both sides had in the group game settled for a 1-1 draw with the Emmanuel Amuneke-piloted side coming from behind to snatch a point.It will be the first time a Nigerian team had lost a third place match in the tournament which began in 1995 in Mali.The Eaglets who had lost 0-1 to the Amajimbos of South Africa in the semi-final scored first in Sunday's game in the 28th minute through Victor Osimhen.It was Oshimhen's fourth goal of the tournament.The Guineans drew parity in the 34th minute through Aboubacar Toure and continued to mount pressure on the Nigerians.Abdoulaye Jules Keita later shot the Guineans into the lead in the 39th minute to end the half as victors.Keita grabbed his second goal of the match in the 53rd minute to silence the reigning FIFA U-17 World Cup champions, who fired blank in the last half.However, the result did not stop the Golden Eaglets from going to Chile later in the year to defend the World Cup they won two years ago in the United Arab Emirates, as all the semi-finalists of Niger 2015 have booked tickets for the cadet global championship.
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