THE Golden Eaglets were beaten 1-0 by Morocco today in their second Group B fixture at the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Constantine, Algeria.
The Nigerian lads fell to second spot in the group at least until South Africa face Zambia tonight, while Morocco have sealed their spot in the quarter-finals.
Morocco were fortunate to win the match, scoring through an own goal by Tochukwu Ogboji in the second minute and escaping an equaliser as the Eaglets missed chance after chance.
Abubakar Abdullahi came closest in the first half but missed from close range in the 21st minute as Nduka Ugbade’s side relentlessly pressed for the leveller.
Nigeria continued to pile pressure on the Moroccans in the second half and had 27 shots overall, but they could not find the breakthrough.
Hope Linus, Favour Daniel, who scored in Sunday’s opening win over Zambia, and Yahaya Lawali all wasted golden opportunities to pull the Golden Eaglets level as Morocco earned their second straight victory.
The North Africans cruised into the quarter-finals with six points from two matches having won their opening match 2-0 against South Africa, while the Golden Eaglets will have to beat South Africa on Saturday to guarantee passage to the last eight stage.
The four semi-finalists in the tournament will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 World Cup later in the year.
