Nigeria and Benin will come face-to-face in a U-17 competition for the first time in six years at the semi-finals of WAFU B Tournament at the Stade Municipal in Togo today.
The Nigeria-Benin clash would kick off at 3: 00 pm local time (4:00 pm Nigerian time) to be followed immediately with the game between hosts Togo and Mali in the other semi-final at the same venue. The winners of both clashes would meet in Sunday’s finale, while losers contest for the third place match.
The Golden Eaglets are the only team at the tournament with a 100% record so far and head coach Emmanuel Amuneke remains upbeat that his team would continue with their winning streak.
Indeed, there would be plenty to play for between Nigeria and Benin for obvious reasons. Apart from being close neighbours, it would be recalled that the ‘Little Squirrels’ eliminated Nigeria from the Algeria 2009 CAN U-17 Tournament after a 3-2 aggregate win much to the consternation of all since the Golden Eagles were still fresh from their 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup win in Korea.
It is against this backdrop that Golden Eaglets would bare their claws against their opponents who only secured a berth into the semi-finals of the competition after Cote d’Ivoire held hosts, Togo, to a pulsating 1-1 draw on Wednesday’s night. The Beninoires had earlier beaten Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 in their qualifying Group A section.
