The Golden Eaglets faced a shaky start to their title defense in the U17 AFCON qualifiers as they played out a scoreless draw with Burkina Faso in a tightly contested match in Accra, Ghana.
In a keenly contested first half, both teams gave their all in this Group B clash. The action started early, as striker Raphael Adams fired a shot directly at the Burkina Faso goalkeeper just five minutes into the game. However, the Burkinabes were denied an opening goal by goalkeeper Chinedu Dominic, who made a crucial save in the 17th minute.
Nigeria’s best chance came in the 26th minute, when midfielder Abdulmuiz Olademeji failed to capitalize on a scoring opportunity after being set up by skipper Simon Cletus. Despite some threats from the Junior Stallions, the Eaglets managed to keep their goal intact.
In the second half, skipper Cletus had a golden opportunity to put his team ahead, but he opted to pass the ball instead of taking a shot on goal. As the game progressed, both teams faced challenging conditions when heavy rain poured down, making the pitch difficult to play on.
In the dying moments of the game, Burkina Faso were fortunate to be saved by the post as Nigeria pressed for a late goal to secure victory.
