Nigeria’s Flying Eagles suffered a 2-0 defeat to hosts Burkina Faso in their final Group B match at the WAFU B U20 Championship on Sunday, but still progressed to the semi-finals after securing qualification earlier in the tournament.
Aliyu Zubairu’s side had already booked their place in the last four with victories over Togo and Niger, making the outcome against the hosts decisive only for the group’s final standings.
Burkina Faso produced a disciplined performance and made home advantage count, scoring twice to finish top of the group and hand Nigeria their first defeat of the competition.
The result ended the Flying Eagles’ perfect start to the tournament but does little to derail their title ambitions, with a place in the knockout stage already secured.
Reacting to the result, X user @Hearus9 pointed to Burkina Faso’s football progress rather than Nigeria’s defeat.
“It’s ok, Africa is developing, few years back Burkina Faso didn’t even have a functional national stadium.
But today, they
are playing matches in their home country and beating Nigeria. On a positive side, it isn’t a bad thing.”
Another football follower, @julie sports, urged fans to keep the bigger picture in mind.
“Not the result we wanted, but the Flying Eagles have still secured qualification for the knockout stage.”
The defeat serves as a timely reminder for Aliyu Zubairu’s side ahead of the semi-finals, where there will be little margin for error as they continue their push for another WAFU B crown.
