Nigeria U23 0-0 Guinea U23: Toothless Olympic Eagles stumble to stale draw in Abuja

The 1996 Olympic Games champions lacked bite and quality in attack and will need a big result in the return Ieg

Ten-man Nigeria national U23 national team played out a dull goalless draw with their Guinean counterpart at the MKO Stadium in Abuja in the first leg of the CAF U23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Parading a team hurriedly put together a few days to the encounter following bouts of controversy, head coach Salisu Yusuf could do no magic to get the better of the Baby Elephants.

The Olympic Eagles were devoid of ideas in attack and had to wait until the half-hour mark before getting their first shot on target. Even that came from a dead ball situation, with Ogunniyi Omo-Jesu crashing a lovely freekick against the bar.

Seemibgly displeased with the output of his boys, coach Salisu effected a double substitution before halftime – the former Enugu Rangers tactician sent in Monsuru Opeyemi Jonathan Aluku to replace Azeez Yusuf and Akanni Qudus.

Still, it yielded little fruits as captain Success Makanjuola’s tame efforts the only thing that distracted Guinea’s goalkeeper.

If the first half was bad, the period after the halftime break was terrible.

The Olympic Eagles went on a nap allowing the Guineas to sieze the initiative.

The visitors could have had the breakthrough early on but they were denied by cross bar.

Nigeria’s goalkeeper Nurudeen Badmus came to the team’s rescue on a number of occasions as the Eagles searched for the goal that will give them the advantage in the rerurn leg.

Ifeanyi Ogba missed a late chance for Nigeria but moments later the home side were reduced to ten men after defender Christopher Nwaeze was shown a red card by the Egyptian referee.

Despite a nervy ending, Nigeria held on for the draw and the team will need to produce a big result in Guinea in six days to stand a chance of qualifying for the 2023 AFCON