AFCON U-20: Mali beat Flying Eagles on penalties to reach final

The Nigeria U-20 football team’s aspirations of ruling the continent once again were thwarted on Wednesday following their loss to Mali in Niamey, Niger Republic.

The semifinal match of the 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations between the West African countries ended 4-3 in favour of the Francophone country.

Scores had stood at 1-1 after regulation and extra time, and to separate the two sides, the match had to go into penalties with Mali scoring four while Nigeria converted three.

Mamadou Traore had shot his side ahead in the 78th minute as he slotted the ball home from a counter attack. But substitute Paschal Durugbor drew level for Nigeria with four minutes left on the time.

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However, neither of the sides could convert the chances that came their way during the extra time, forcing the match to be decided on penalties.

In the shootout, Valentine Ozornwafor and Aniekeme Okon failed to convert the kicks on the Nigeria side, while Ikouwem Udo, Jamil Muhammad, and Maxwell Effiom made no mistakes from the spot.

With the exception of Boubakar Traore who missed his kick on the Malian side, others – Lassana N’Diaye, Hadji Drame Abdoulaye Diaby and El Bilal Toure – put their kicks past Olawale Oremade in goal for Nigeria.

Nigeria will fight for the bronze medal in the third place match on Saturday, while Mali will be involved in the final match on Sunday.