The Nigeria-Ghana final qualifying fixture in the race to next year’s African Nations Championship ended in a goalless draw in the first leg played yesterday – Sunday, December 22 – at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Super Eagles B held their Ghanaian counterparts to a goalless draw at the final qualifying fixture in the race to next year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) at the Accra Sports Stadium.
This is even as hosts Ghana lifted the inaugural WAFU B U17 Girls’ Cup yesterday after a 5-4 penalty shootout defeat of resilient Nigeria at the Ghanaian Centre of Excellence in Prampram, outside Accra.
Both sides earlier scored two goals apiece in regulation time but needed a penalty shootout to determine the winner of the tournament, which the Maidens won after scoring all five of their spot kicks while Nigeria fluffed one of their own.
In the CHAN category, Ghana’s Black Galaxies dominated the first period with a string of opportunities, but they found Eagles’ rearguard marshalled by Captain Nduka Junior impenetrable.
Stephen Amankwoo found a leeway through the Eagles’ defence in the 15th minute only to see his rising shot go inches wide of Henry Ozoemena’s goal-post.
Sikiru Alimi’s free-kick, with a minute to half time, also went over the sticks as the game became a ding-dong affair between the regional powerhouses.
The scoreless affair is the best result Nigeria have earned against Ghana away in any qualifying contest for the African Nations Championship, with the Eagles losing 2-3 to their hosts in 2008 and then getting spanked by two goals in 2022.
Both teams now look forward to the second leg of the fixture, set for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo this Saturday.
The winner on aggregate will represent WAFU B at the biennial championship reserved exclusively for professional footballers plying their trade in their country’s domestic leagues.
The eighth edition of the African Nations Championship will be hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28, 2025.
Hosts Ghana edge Nigeria to win WAFU B U17 Girls Cup
Playing in the inaugural WAFU B U17 Girls’ Cup Getrude Amoafo put the hosts in front in the 14th minute, and then the irrepressible Priscilla Mensah doubled the advantage five minutes later.
It appeared the Maidens would coast to an easy victory, but the Nigerian girls had other ideas.
Precious Oscar halved the deficit in the 34th minute, with a powerful volley right inside the Ghanaian vital area, and Harmony Chidi restored parity for Nigeria in the 78th minute with a long-range strike that flew above goalkeeper Aishatu Fatai.
Defender Taiwo Adegoke handed the advantage to the hosts in the shootout, when she struck the woodwork from six yards, but the Flamingos certainly gave a good account of themselves in a tournament in which they scored 16 goals in four matches, conceding only four.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Benin Republic took the bronze medals with another penalty shootout defeat of Cote d’Ivoire in the third-place match played earlier in the day.
