Cote d’Ivoire rally to hold Nigeria to 1-1 draw

Nigeria’s hope of opening its campaign at the WAFU U-20 Championship was thwarted at the final minutes when Cote d’Ivoire scored to ensure the tie ended 1-1 at the Stade Charles de Gaulle Stadium, Porto-Novo.

The WAFU championship is the qualifying tournament for the African U-20 Nations Cup.

The Flying Eagles had the better of the game in the first half but they could not convert their superiority to goals. But in the 60th minute, Christopher Nwaeze headed home a Wisdom Ubani free-kick to give Nigeria the lead.

Thereafter, the Flying Eagles went all out for more goals, but their wings were clipped in the 69th minute when Nwaeze was dismissed for a second bookable offense, shortly after Ubani missed a clear chance to double the advantage.

The red card put the Flying Eagles on the back foot, which gave Cote d’Ivoire the impetus to attack for the equalizer. It finally came in the first minute of added time to leave scores even.

Nigeria’s next game in the competition is on Wednesday when it takes on Ghana in their final Group B match.