15th September, 2014
Nigeria’s U-17 national team relinquished an early lead to lose 2-1 to Gabon in a final round first leg qualifying match for the 2015 African U-17 Championship at the Augustin Monedan de Sibang in Libreville on Sunday.
Victor Osimhen had given Nigeria the lead after four minutes off Kehinde Ayinde’s ball in, but Gabon found a way back when Moubouhy Ngouba equalised from a freekick midway through the first half.
Both sides created few goal chances afterwards but the final 20 minutes saw the match swing in Gabon’s favour as first, Nigeria’s goalscorer Osimhen received his marching order for a second bookable offence before Maomikolo Boundembi scored the winner 10 minutes from the end.
The second leg of the qualifier will take place in a fortnight in Calabar, with a 1-0 win good enough for Nigeria to scale through on away goals rule.
The Golden Eaglets had faced issues making their way to Libreville, with the Gabonese authorities initially refusing to allow the team into the country from Lome, Togo due to fears over the Ebola virus, prompting the Nigeria Football Federation to complain to the Confederation of African Football.