Izuchukwu OkosiThe Golden Eaglets Friday night defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 to qualify for the 2023 African U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria reports Prime Business Africa.
The Nigerians piled pressure on the Francophone side and it paid off in the 22nd minute when Idris Abdullahi headed in a cross from Emmanuel Michael’s cross.
The Burkinabes restored parity through Ouedraogo four minutes before halftime.
The second period was a slight deviation from the first as both teams gave the game their all and played for pride and power. The Nigerians controlled in key areas of the pitch and defended resolutely for large periods but Burkina Faso pushed better than they did in the first half.
Abdullahi pounced on a loose ball from an inch-perfect Emmanuel Michael cross in the 48th minute to put Nigerians ahead.
The forward however missed a chance to grab his hat-trick nine minutes into the second half as the ball was cleared from danger.
Burkina Faso pushed for an equaliser and proved to be major threats from the wings especially.
Nigeria and Burkina Faso will represent West Africa Zone B at the African U-17 championship in Algeria next year.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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