Nigeria U-17 coach Nduka Ugbade believes the current Golden Eaglets have a bright future ahead of them after they got knocked out of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations by Burkina Faso on Thursday.
The Eaglets were tipped as favourites to win the tournament but their journey ended after Aboubacar Camara’s brace was enough to secure a 2-1 win for the Burkinabe, ending Nigeria’s hopes of making it to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in December.
While there has been criticism of the team, especially as regards finishing, Ugbade is of the opinion some of the players will progress to the senior team and play for the Super Eagles.
“The players are disappointed of course because they are young but we must support them because they need to continue their careers,” Ugbade said after the game in Algiers.
“We should work on their development because I believe that some of these players will eventually move to the senior national team.
“I am happy with the performance of our players and in such competitions, even if you lose, you gain something by developing the players for the future.
“Everything worked as we had planned, but we could not score with the chances we had. We paid dearly for that. We learn the lessons and move on.
FULL-TIME! ⏰
Burkina Faso edge past Nigeria and claim the W ✅#TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 pic.twitter.com/m1SaSv0a87
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 2023 ???? (@CAF_Online) May 11, 2023
Burkina Faso coach Brahima Traore meanwhile is pleased his team have achieved their first objective in reaching the U-17 World Cup and now set their sights on lifting their second U-17 AFCON title.
“It was a heroic match and our players gave everything they had. Qualifying for the semi-finals and the World Cup was one of our goals from the beginning. We had promised the Federation and the Burkinabe people that we would seek to achieve this and also go for our second AFCON title,” Traore stated.
Burkina Faso will face Senegal in the semi-finals at the Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine.
