By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria on Sunday evening squeezed out a 1-0 victory against Zambia in the opening Group B match of the ongoing Africa U17 Cup of Nations in Algeria.
Nigeria dominated for large swates of the evening at the Stade Mohamed Hamlaoui, but ineffective short passes and poor shooting in front of goal denied them an avalanche of goals against a Zambian team that failed to bite.
It was later on in the closing stages of the second half that winger Favour Daniel struck powerfully past the Zambian goal-tender from a goalmouth meleein Algeria’s second city, giving Nigeria all the honours in a largely average encounter that opened the campaign in Group B.
Both teams hit the woodwork in the first period and Abubakar Abdullahi saw his efforts saved twice as Nigeria piled on the pressure.
Nigeria, five-time world champions and two-time African overall winners were set to take a two-goal win into their clash with Morocco on Wednesday, but substitute Light Eke made light work of a penalty kick awarded two minutes into additional time and gave the goalkeeper no worries.
At the end of 90 minutes, Nigerian defender Yahaya Lawali was named Man of the Match.
After Morocco’s clash in two days time, the Eaglets will play South Africa in their final match of Group B on Saturday.
The four top-placed teams at the 12-nation finals will represent Africa at this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup.
