WAFU U-20: Black Satellites Bows Out

The Black Satellites of Ghana lost 2-4 to rivals Nigeria to exit the WAFU U20 tournament at the Stade Municipal in Lomé, Togo on Wednesday evening.

The defeat means the Black Satellites are out of the tournament with no points earned in two matches.

Ghana shockingly lost to Niger by a lone goal in Group B opener over the weekend.

Coach Jimmy Cobblah and his charges needed a win to go through, but they faced a difficult task against a Nigerian side who also needed a draw to progress out of Group B.

However, Niger had already booked their passage to the knockout rounds of the tournament after beating Benin and a draw with Nigeria.

The Flying Eagles led in the game for the first time in the 77th minute when Abubakar Ibrahim netted from the spot.

Wasiu Alalade increased Nigeria’s lead nine minutes from full-time.Effiom added his second of the game to make it 4-1 to Nigeria.

Toku got another consolation for the Black Satellites with a sublime free-kick on the stroke of the final whistle.

Head coach Jimmy Cobblah seeked to use the ten-day tournament to prepare for the 2019 CAF U20 Cup of Nations in Niger between 24 February and 10 March.

The top four teams will qualify as CAF’s representatives for the 2019 FIFA U-20 world cup to be hosted in Poland in May.