Nigeria reached the final of the Caf U17 Championship on Wednesday after they defeated Tunisia 4-2 at the Stade de Marakech in Morocco.
A brace from Yahaya Musa and a goal each from Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success earned them the opportunity to contest for their third African title at this level.
The Junior Carthage Eagles conceded three quick goals within the space of twenty minutes to surprise of their coach Abdellay who had earlier boasted that the Golden Eaglets will be subdued.
First, it was Kelechi Iheanacho who proved that the Golden Eaglets meant serious business when he shot his side in to the lead after just two minutes of kickoff via a through ball from Isaac Success. While the Tunisians were trying to stamp their authority in the game towards getting an equalizer, impressive Musa Yahaya struck to double his side lead after receiving a well tailored pass from the midfield.
When it seems that the Junior Carthage Eagles were heading for a thorough bashing, Coach Abdellay Ben Sultan had no option than to bring on Ben Salem in the 20minutes for Jbeli who was completely lost in the game. A minute after this, leading top scorer of the competition, Success made it 3-0 Nigeria after a corner kick was floated onto the far post where he controlled the ball before side footing into the net which rendered the Tunisian goalie, Ben Chrifia helpless.
Mohammed Firas Larbi made good use of his opportunity to pull one back for his side. Tunisia struck again on 29th minute from a free-kick which was headed in by Haj Hassen who was left unmarked in the Nigerian goal.
The second have was more competitive as the Tunisians tried hard to get the much needed equalizer but could not as the Nigerian backline anchored by Omego curtailed the Tunisians attacking forays.
However, it was put the game beyond their reach beyond the reach of the Junior Carthage Eagles with a well taken strike in the 58th minutes by Yahaya. He got a diagonal ball on the left flank, dribbled his way into the penalty box before firing past Chrifia from the narrowest of angles and this show of brilliance gave Nigeria a 4-2 lead.
Garba Manu’s side will now face the Baby Elephants of Cote d’ivoire in the final on Saturday, an encounter that will be the second meeting of both sides after they had earlier met during the group stages.
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