Under-17 WAFU Championship: Burkina Faso hold Nigeria

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets were held to a goalless drawn game by their Burkina Faso counterparts in the ongoing under-17 West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone B under-17 Championship at the University of Ghana Stadium. 

Despite the relentless rain, both teams displayed commendable determination in a fiercely contested match that ultimately ended without a breakthrough.

It was a match characterised by near misses as both sides threw away golden opportunities to put their countries through in the entire 90 minutes of play.

The Nigerians, the defending champions, were the first to threaten their opponent as Imrana Muhammad came close to scoring just four minutes into the match, only to narrowly miss the target.

Burkina Faso's Issouf Bara responded almost immediately with a chance of his own, but failed to shoot past Nigerian goalkeeper Adekunle Adedigba.

In the 19th and 24th minutes, Nigeria missed great opportunities to score as they fired blankly at begging opportunities.

Near misses

Throughout the encounter, both sides created numerous opportunities but were unable to capitalise on them. Nigeria's Abdulmuiz Olamideji and Burkina Faso's Kobana Ouattara came close with strikes from outside the box but were denied by solid goalkeeping.

As the match progressed, Nigeria's Destiny Samuel earned a free kick near the box but skipper Simon Cletus's effort sailed over the bar. The pattern continued till Ghanaian referee Adaari Abdul

Latif signalled to end the first half. 

But it continued into the second half, with both teams squandering chances from set-pieces and corners.

Resolute defending

Burkina Faso's attacking quartet of Issouf Bara, Alessandro Bagayogo, Mohammed Fofana, and Family Barro made several attempts to break the deadlock, only to be thwarted by Nigeria's resolute defence and goalkeeper Adedigba.

On the other hand, Nigeria's Ibrahim Abdul Ganiyu, Sylster Chika, Simon Cletus and Daniel Mendie also struggled to find the back of the net despite their best efforts to seize the initiative.

In the dying minutes of the game, both teams pushed for a late winner but ultimately failed to find the breakthrough as the match ended in a stalemate.