WAFU U-20: Ghana beat Nigeria to secure semi-finals spot

Precious Boah’s expertly taken free-kick was enough to give Ghana a 1-0 win over Nigeria at the WAFU Zone B U-20 Championship.

The win over bitterest rivals, Nigeria served the Black Satellites the best form of revenge.

The win qualified Ghana to the semi final stage of the competition while Nigeria are kicked out. This sees a reversal of the trend in 2018 when Nigeria beat Ghana to qualify at the Satellites’ expense.

The Black Satellites had an average first half showing with Nigeria dominating play.

Coach Karim Zito’s side struggled to play with an identity and lacked cohesion.

The team in various spells throughout the first half were off the pace and looked unsettled.

The Flying Eagles twice had the ball in the net but no goals were awarded on both occasions.

The first was ruled out for offside while the second Nigeria goal was rightly disallowed for an initial handball.

Chances were far and few in the first 45 minutes but Nigeria blew most of their half chances; ensuring that the first half ended goalless.

Back from recess, the Satellite supped their game and began to create some chances.

However there were still lingering issues. Second half substitute Abdul Mugeese Zakaria added some bite to Ghana’s attack.

The Dreams FC attacker on-loan at Eleven Wonders made a beautiful dribbling run in from the left flank into the middle and was brought down for a free kick inside the 76th minute.

Precious Boah after properly positioning the ball unleashed a beauty into the net with the Nigerian Goalie looking stupefied in between the sticks.

Boah will grow from hero to zero minutes later when he received a second booking for non-sporting conduct to trigger his ejection from the game.

Ghana played the remaining minutes with ten men but held on solidly to ensure they ended the game with their solitary lead.

The win qualifies Ghana to the next stage while a draw in the next game against Ivory Coast will be enough to cement first place in Group B.

For Nigeria, the defeat sees then eliminated, an occurrence that will serve as a payback from Ghana following happenings at the 2018 edition.

Ghana XI:
Ibrahim Danlad (GK)
Philemon Baffour
Benjamin Aloma
Kobina Amoah
Nathaniel Adjei
Emmanuel Essiam
Eugene Adjei Frimpong
Daniel Afriyie Barnie (C)
Matthew Anim-Cudjoe
Mohammed Sulemana
Precious Boah