* Dream Team to play Congo-Brazzaville

Nigeria’s U-23 team will now square up with Congo-Brazzaville for a place at the African U-23 Championship after the Red Devils eliminated Ghana.

The handwriting was on the wall for the Black Meteors after they could only win the first leg 1-0 in Tamale last weekend, and they were dealt a blow by a Congolese side coached by Claude LeRoy, a former Coach of Ghana’s senior team.

Both teams went into Sunday’s return leg in Pointe Noire hopeful, but the hosts scored to tie the fixture and then went on to score all their five kicks in the ensuing penalty shoot-out, while Ghana missed one.

Victory means old warhorse Claude LeRoy, a Frenchman, will face Nigeria again, after leading the Congolese senior team that qualified for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations at the expense of the Super Eagles.

However, Samson Siasia’s team eliminated Gabon and Zambia in the race for a place at the 11^th All-Africa Games and he will have the full compliment of the players he wants from the U-20 squad before the fixture in July.

Ghana was followed out of the race by Cameroon, meaning two of the continent’s most illustrious teams at this level have been bundled out.

Ghana won Africa’s first medal at the Men’s Football Tournament of the Olympics (a bronze, in 1992), while Cameroon won the gold in Australia in 2000, succeeding Nigeria.

The Lionceux were thrown out by Sierra Leone, on the away goal rule, despite playing both legs at home in Yaounde as a result of the Ebola epidemic in Freetown. Sierra Leone will now play Algeria.

Mali beat Mauritania 3-1 in Bamako for a 4-2 aggregate and will face Gabon, reigning African U-23 champions, while Zambia, who eliminated Botswana 3-1 on aggregate, will take on Cote d’Ivoire.

Uganda thrashed Rwanda home and away for a 4-1 aggregate and will face Egypt, while South Africa awaits the winner between Zimbabwe and Swaziland and the winner between Tunisia and Sudan will clash with Morocco.

Photo: sl10.ng

Author: NFF Admin