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10-man Nigeria U23 men's national side were held to a 0-0 draw by Guinea in their 2023 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations final round, first leg qualifying tie in Abuja on Wednesday.
Salisu Yusuf’s side put up a underwhelming display in the match played at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The Guineans made a bright start to the encounter, creating some promising attacks in the opening minutes even though they were unable to carve out any clear cut scoring opportunities.
At some stage, the Olympic Eagles failed to find the cutting edge in attack and barely shot at the Guinea goal but had Nigeria’s goalkeeper Nurudeen Badmus to thank for the several saves to save his team from a home defeat.
Ifeanyi Ogba came close with the Nigerians best scoring chance late in the encounter but missed the glorious opportunity before the hosts were reduced by a player after defender Christopher Nwaeze was sent-off.
With the Nigerians upping their performance late in the second half, the visitors resorted to time wasting in the closing stages of the game with the home fans expressing their anger as the Guineans contended with sitting deep.
"We need to get back to the drawing board and prepare well for the return leg,” reacted Nigeria’s head coach Yusuf after the match.
The return leg will be played next week in Morocco with the winners over two legs qualifying for the U23 AFCON.
The top three nations at the U23 AFCON final tournament will also be guaranteed a place in the Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
