Eaglets beat Mali to qualify for African tourney

 

Golden Eaglets Coach Manu Garba
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Nigeria have qualified for the Africa U-17 football championship holding next year in Morocco after the Golden Eaglets beat the Young Eagles of Mali 2-0 at Stade Kanoute in Bamako on Sunday.

The Eaglets had beaten the Malians 2-0 in the first leg fixture played in Calabar, Cross River State a fortnight ago only to repeat a similar goal margin on Sunday, thus qualifying for the championship 4-0 on aggregate.

Forward Isaac Success struck in the first half of the game in Mali to quieten the cheering home fans who had hoped to encourage the hosts. It could have been worse minutes later but a Nigerian goal was disallowed amid protest from the visitors.

The second half was no different from the first as the young Nigerians dominated the game, and their efforts paid off in the 60th minute when Bernard Bulbwa’s shot beat the Malian goalkeeper to put Nigeria two goals ahead.

Eaglets coach, Manu Garba, said he dedicated the victory to God, adding that the team will work on their lapses and perfect their strategies as they prepare to take on the rest of Africa in 2013.

The routing completed Nigeria’s 100 per cent unbeaten run in the qualifiers for the championship.

The Eaglets had beaten Niger Republic 10-1 on aggregate in the first round of the qualifiers before descending on Guinea, thrashing them 7-0 on aggregate in the second round.

Nigeria last played in the African tournament in 2007 when they won it by beating Togo 1-0 in the final. The team have won the tournament twice in nine editions since the competition was introduced in 1995.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation had yet to receive a response from the Confederation of African Football after the nation’s football body protested the age of the Malian U-17 team following their first leg fixture in Calabar.

The NFF had argued that the Malians were older than 17.