Enterprising forward Kparobo Arierhi netted a brace as champions Nigeria successfully defended their WAFU U-20 title on Wednesday night after a 2-1 defeat of regional rivals Ghana in this year’s final in Lome.
The Flying Eagles dominated large swatches of the encounter, but it turned out a game of two halves and Nigeria were imperious in the first half and Ghana turned on the heat in the second.
Harcourt came up with a clever palm-down when the Ghanaians broke through from the left with a cross and a header in the 14th minute, and then punched the ball away after a point-blank shot as the Satellites waltzed their way into the box from the right in added time.
In-between, Kparobo Arierhi had concluded the damage. First, in the 34th minute, he received a pass on the edge of the box as the Flying Eagles broke forward on the right, and scored with the trusted poacher’s calm, left-footed finish into the bottom corner, with the goalkeeper clutching grass.
The second was more spectacular. Nigerian manfully snatched the ball half-way into the Satellites’ area, and a couple of passes left Kparobo, who plays his club football for Beyond Limits FC, and had scored Nigeria’s winner in the 2-1 win over Cote d’Ivoire in the group phase, face to face with the goalkeeper. Without any attempt at showboating, he unleashed a right-footed rocket right into the roof of the net.
On the hour, Nigeria had to spiritedly clear their lines as the Black Satellites, in a rare onslaught, picked the pockets of several defenders and got the ball past goalkeeper Harcourt.
Five minutes later, Nigeria again escaped through stout defending as a flurry of shots from inside and outside the box simply failed to get the ball beyond Harcourt.
The pressure finally paid off for the Ghanaians in the 74th minute, as they reduced the tally following a goalmouth melee.
However, the Flying Eagles held on to retain their trophy won two years ago in Niger Republic, and with Kparobo Arierhi collecting the Man-of-the-Match award.
Nigeria and Ghana will represent WAFU B at next year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations, to be hosted by South Africa.
