By David Awopetu
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglet beat Burkina Faso 1-0 to reach the final of the ongoing West African Football Union (WAFU) Tournament in Lome, Togo and also qualified for the U17 Africa Cup of Nation in Morocco later in the year.
The Eaglets put up a much improved performance than their previous two matches and were rewarded by a solitary goal which was converted in the 77th minute by Michael Emmanuel Papo.
By virtue of qualifying for the final, the Eaglets also picked a ticket for the Africa Cup of Nations for the U-17 scheduled to hold later this year in Morocco.
Fatai Amoo’s boys had started the competition poorly, loosing their first match 0-1 to Cote d’Voire, then drawing 1-1 with Ghana.
Nigeria eventually squeezed into the semi-finals thanks to Cote d’Voire who beat Ghana 3-1 in the last group game, for Nigeria to qualify with just one point and a better goal difference.
Burkina Faso young guns try to push for an equaliser with no avail as the Eaglets held unto the victory and sealed the passage to final and automatic qualification to the U17 AFCON in Morocco.
Their last triumph was achieved at the 2015 edition when they silenced Mali 2-0 in the final thanks to second-half strikes from Victor Osimhen and Funsho Bamgboye.
