U-17 AFCON 2019 Semis: Unlucky Eaglets Lose To Guinea On Penalties

Guinea claimed a dramatic 10-9 penalty shoot-out win against the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria in the first semi-final match of the 2019 Africa U-17 Africa Cup of Nations at the National Stadium, Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, 

Both teams battled to a 0-0 during regulation time and penalty shoot-out was needed to determine the winner.

Ogaga Oduko missed the Eaglets’ 10th kick and ended Nigeria’s hopes of winning a third African titleGuinea started on the strong foot and dominated the opening exchanges but failed to break the Nigerian defence who stood firm in the face relentless pressure from their opponent.

Algassime Bah and Aboubacar Conte came close to opening scored for the Guineans in the 22nd and 26th minutes respectively.

The lively Wisdom Ubani was a tough customer for the Guinean defence and his well struck free-kick in the 33rd minute sailed inches wide.

The Golden Eaglets stepped up their game in the second half with Olakunle Olusegun who replaced Akinwunmi Amoo before the break proving a handful for the Guineans.

Ubani wasted a number of good scoring opportunities which cost his side at the end of the day.

Fawaz Abdullahi had an effort cleared off the line deep into stoppage time.

The game went into penalty with Guinea prevailing having converted all 10 kicks, while Nigeria scored nine.

The Golden Eaglets will now fight to end the competition on a positive note when they play the third place match on Saturday.