Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets began their 2023 U-17 AFCON campaign with a decisive and hard-fought 1-0 win over Zambia in Group B in Constantine on Sunday.
Favour Daniel’s goal with less than 20 minutes remaining won the victory for Nduka Ugbade’s side.
The Eaglets also missed a penalty late in the game, as replacement Light Eke failed to convert.
The Eaglets’ next match is against Morocco on Wednesday, May 3rd.
The Eaglets had a penalty shout three minutes into the game after Abubakar Abdullahi was fouled inside the area, but the referee dismissed the call.
Emmanuel Michael’s fierce shot nearly missed the target in the ninth minute.
The Eaglets thought they had opened the scoring, but it was ruled out for offside on 13 minutes.
In the 39th minute, Precious Williams had an opportunity to put the Eaglets ahead, but failed to convert.
A bullet attempt from a Zambian player came off the Eaglets’ crossbar with four minutes remained in the first half.
Daniel had an opportunity on 63 minutes but was unable to convert.
The Eaglets finally broke through on 77 minutes, when Daniel pounced on a stray ball in the area to score.
The Eaglets had a chance to double their lead in the 90th minute, but replacement Eke’s penalty was saved by the Zambian goalkeeper.
