Favour Daniel’s second-half goal gave Nigeria a 1-0 win over Zambia at the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Algeria 2023, on Sunday at the Mohamed Hamloui Stadium in Constantine.
Despite a late penalty miss by Light Eke, the Golden Eaglets held on to take the lead in Group B after their first match.
Both teams fought hard, but on the balance of opportunities, Nigeria could have had more from the evening kickoff.
Abubakar Abdullahi thought he had scored the opener after 13 minutes but he was flagged offside, while Tochukwu Ogbabido had a rasping shot from the edge of the box go inches over.
Six minutes to the break, the Nigerians had a glorious chance when Hope Linus sent skipper Precious Williams through on goal with a brilliant through ball, but the Zambian keeper’s trailing leg deflected the ball against the upright.
Three minutes on the turn Zambia were also denied by the woodwork, this time Emmanuel Mwanza’s curling effort coming off against the crossbar.
In the second half, Zambia were better off and commanded more of the possession. They had a good chance in the 71st minute when substitute Obvious Mwaliteta sent Stainly Nyamikwe through on goal, but the Katter saw his effort well saved by the keeper.
Five minutes on the turn though, Zambia found themselves trailing. Daniel was left isolated inside the box after the ball was recycled in from a cleared corner, and the forward made no mistake beating the keeper.
They should have scored the second in the 89th minute from the penalty spot after Abubakar Abdullahi was brought down inside the box, but substitute Eke saw his tame penalty saved.
Zambia mounted a challenge for a comeback, and they almost snatched an equalizer in added time when Marcel Zimba rolled a low cross into the area, but both Aaron Simpasa and Linecker Mbesuma couldn’t offer it a touch into an empty net.
Zambia’s next match will be a COSAFA derby against South Africa while Nigeria take on Morocco, both games set for next Wednesday.