The U-20 national team, the Flying Eagles, on Wednesday reached the semi-finals of the WAFU U-20 Championship in Togo with a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Black Satellites of Ghana.
Following their 0-0 draw with Niger Republic on Sunday, the result took the seven-time African champions into the semi-finals as Group B winners on goals advantage.
Niger Republic’s Junior Mena qualified in second place, also with four points as Nigeria, following their earlier 1-0 defeat of Ghana’s Black Satellites. The Ghanaians were eliminated without a point.
The semi-finals come up on Friday, with the final on Sunday.
Emmanuel Toku opened the scoring for the Ghanaians on the half hour, before Effiom Maxwell drew Nigeria level with a minute left before interval. Ibrahim Abubakar then converted a penalty kick in the 80th minute to make it two for Nigeria, before WasiuAlalade made it three two minutes later. Maxwell, selected as Man of the Match, scored Nigeria’s fourth in added time but there was still time for Toku to get his and Ghana’s second.
The WAFU U-20 Championship is a preparatory tournament for next year’s U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger Republic from February 2 to 17.
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