Olympic Eagles of Nigeria succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against Cote d’Ivoire in the opening Group B match of the CAF U23 Nations Cup.
The Olympic Eagles finished the game with 10 men following the red card handed to defender Ndubusi Ndah in the 71st minute.
After Nigerian teams failed in both the Africa Nations Championships (Chan) qualifiers and then the Wafu tournament in Senegal, coach Imama Amapakabo had a lot to prove in Saturday’s Group B opener.
Nigeria started the game on a good note. It was the Ivoirians that had the first real chance of the game but goalkeeper Adamu Abubakar made a fantastic save in the 16th minute to deny the Young Elephants a likely opener.
That effort was the major talking point of the first half as both teams failed to break the deadlock within the first 45 minutes.
With things not going as he would have hoped, Amapakabo made two quick-fire changes in the 54th and 56th minutes respectively bringing on Sunday Faleye and Valentine Ozornwafor for Bright Enobakhare and Orji Okonkwo.
Before Okonkwo was substituted off, he had a great chance to score, seeing his header come off the crossbar from a corner kick.
The Ivoirians, however, grabbed a winner in the 71st minute off a controversial penalty awarded by Egyptian referee Mohamed Maarouf.
With just 13 shots and two on target, Amapakabo’s troops were left licking their wounds at the end of regulation time.
Defending champions Nigeria will now need to defeat Zambia and South Africa to stand a good chance of reaching the semi-finals.
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