Golden Eaglets of Nigeria will not defend their world title as they have been knocked out of the qualifying race for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations by Niger.
The Eaglets lost away to the Menas of Niger 3-1 in Niamey and 3-2 on aggregate.
Sidibe Assoumanu, gave Niger the lead in the 36th minute with a pile drive just outside the box that beat a poorly-positioned goalkeeper Adeleye Adebayo.
But Usman Musa Babalolo got the equalizer with a header barely a minute to the end of first half.
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The second half began with much drama, as Henry Duvalier Mouandjou Kalla, the Cameroonian referee, gave the hosts a freaky penalty in the 48th minute, which was converted by Mamane Bello.
From then, it looked like Mountain Everest for the Eaglets to climb with repeated foul calls by the referee.
With minutes left to play, the hosts got yet another free kick just outside the box, which was converted by Issaka Magaji.
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Nduka Ugbade, the assistant coach of the Eaglets, lamented the ill-treatment received by the team.
“This is a daylight robbery and cannot be defined in any other way because all the officials worked jointly and fully against Nigeria,” Ugbade said.
“What would the Nigeriens and the officials of the match be teaching their kids at home? In all my life in football, I have never seen this kind of drama but Nigerians would not be able to see the match as all our cameras were seized.”
Consequently, Manu Garba’s boys will not feature at the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India.
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A similar fate befell Emmanuel Amuneke’s Flying Eagles, who lost out in the race for the continental tournament and will therefore miss next year’ FIFA Under-20 World Cup, scheduled to hold in South Korea.
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