Golden Eaglets of Nigeria on Tuesday came from behind to defeat the Junior Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire 3-1 in the semi-final of the ongoing U17 WAFU B tourney in Ghana to pick one of the two tickets for the CAF U17 African Nations Cup.
Two well struck free kicks from Emmanuel Michael in the first half and a second half header off Abdullahi Idris, earned coach Nduka Ugbade and his side their third consecutive win at the regional tournament.
Côte d’Ivoire were awarded a penalty following a clumsy tackle on Diomandi inside the box, with the scorer sending the Eaglets keeper the wrong way.
In the 31st minute the Eaglets equalized thanks to a free-kick from Michael, whose effort close to the corner flag slipped past the Ivorian keeper.
Michael grabbed his brace 12 minutes later from another free-kick this time from a central position to beat the Ivorian wall.
Idris then made it 3-1 in the 61st minute as he rose highest to head in a swung in free-kick with the keeper stranded.
Meanwhile, the Baby Elephants were reduced to 10 men after Mustapha received a red card in the 65th minute.
Nigeria will now face the winner between Ghana and Burkina Faso in the final.
