The Nigeria U17 national team, known as the Golden Eaglets, will resume hostilities with the Moroccan U17 side at the Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine on Wednesday evening. It will be both sides' second game of the African U17 Championship, with both winning their first game in Group B.
Nigeria U17
The Nigeria U17 team are coming into this fixture after a 1-0 win over the Zambia U17 side. Favour Oluwasegun Daniel's 76th-minute goal was enough to win the game for the Golden Eaglets. It was a tough match for the Nigerian side, with the Zambians' defence almost unbreachable until the first period ended. The second half started on a similar note until the Golden Eaglets broke the deadlock in the 76th minute. They could have gone on to score another deep into added time had Light Chijioke Eke not missed from the penalty spot, but the team was happy to get the three points.
#Nigeriaโs U17 team, the Golden Eaglets, after beating #Zambia 1-0 in their opening group game of the #U17AFCON2023 in #Algeria.
Itโs one time I can say these players are genuine U17 teenagersโฆ pic.twitter.com/lbGH7HnfGg
— Osasu Obayiuwana (@osasuo) May 1, 2023
Nduka Ugbade, head coach of the Golden Eaglets, will hope for a similar result and should have prepared his boys to try and get all the points against Morocco. The Nigeria U17 side will fancy their chances against the third-time comers of the competition, but it won't be easy, as the North African teams have their strengths.
Light Eke missed a penalty for Nigeria U17 yesterday against Zambia #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 pic.twitter.com/ze4rvmHuVr
— Football View (@FootballViewYT) May 1, 2023
Morocco U17
The Morocco U17 national team, also known as the Atlas Cubs, are coming into this showdown with the Nigeria U17 outfit having clinically dispatched the South Africa U17 team at the Hamlaoui Stadium 2-0. Goals from Abdelhamid Boudlal Ait in the 73rd minute and Adam Hanin in the 83rd minute ensured that Said Chiba's lads top the Group B table ahead of this match.
GOAALLL | Aรฏt Boudlal scores the penalty for Morocco U17 ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐
Atlas Cubs on the lead with less than 15 mins left โ๏ธ#AtlasLionsU17 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 #DimaMaghrib๐ฒ๐ฆโค๏ธโ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/7OBasaxW9A
— ๐ ๐ฉ๐ก_๐๐ก | ๐ฒ๐ฆ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ (@MVN_EN) April 30, 2023
The visit of the Moroccan head coach, Walid Regragui, a day before the boys travelled to Algeria for this competition, motivated the lads to emulate their senior teammates and recreate the exploits they had at FIFA World Cup 2023 Qatar. However, they must be at their best to defeat the Nigeria U17 and qualify for the next round.
Nigeria's U17 Form Ahead of This Match
The Golden Eaglets beat Zambia U17 1-0 in their last game. Following the break for the general elections in Nigeria, the Eaglets played 12 friendly matches at their NFF/FIFA Goal Project, Abuja base, winning 11 and drawing one. They scored a total of 66 goals and conceded 14.
Morocco's U17 Form Ahead of This Match
The Atlas Cubs have won just one game this year, their opener in this competition against South Africa U17 out of the six games they've played. They lost three and drew two.
Few Points to Know Ahead of the Match
- Morocco has played at the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) only twice before, with their best-ever performance being a fourth-place finish in 2013.
- This is Nigeria's 10th appearance at the African U17 Championship. They've won the competition twice.
- Nigeria U17 and Morocco U17 have not met before
- The last four teams in this competition will represent Africa at the FIFA U17 World Cup later this year.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 weeks ago
