Nigeria, Angola clash in U17 Afcon duel

Dar es Salaam. Nigeria and Angola face off in the third play-off of the 2019 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) at the National Stadium today.

For the Angolans, revenge would be on their mind after losing 1-0 to Nigeria in the Group A match earlier this month.

The Golden Eaglets, as Nigeria’s Under-17 soccer team is popularly known, lost to Guinea 10-9 on penalties in the semi-finals. The normal 90 minutes has ended in a 0-0 draw at the 60,000-venue.

Angola, on the other hand, also missed out on the final after losing to Cameroon on penalties.

Nigeria’s assistant coach, Bunmi Haruna has expressed optimism that today’s match, which starts at 4pm, will produce positive results for his team. Meanwhile, Guinea will face Cameroon in the final of the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations tomorrow atv the same venue. Both Cameroon and Guinea sailed through after they won their semi-finals on penalties.

Guinea were 10-9 winners over Nigeria in a tense shoot-out after Nigeria’s David Oduko Ogaga missed his spot-kick.

The two teams had played out a goalless draw after 90 minutes before the match went straight to penalties.

Later, 10- man Cameroon beat Angola 4-3 on penalties after their match had also finished 0-0 in normal time. In Wednesday’s semi-finals, Guinea dominated the match, but found goals hard to come by as Nigeria’s defenders stood firm.

Guinea finished third at the 1995, 2015 and 2017 editions of the U-17 finals.