Ladan Bosso led Flying Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by Cote D’Ivoire in the WAFU championship opener in Porto Novo.
Nigeria had a good start to the game but ended the first half without the deadlock broken. The young Eagles created a lot of chances but were unable to convert with Peter Olawale and Chris Nwaeze narrowly missing the target.
Nigeria finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute through Chris Nwaeze who headed home from Wisdom Ubani’s freekick. Nigerian were reduced to 10 men eight minutes later after the goal scorer was red carded for a second bookable offence.
Cote D’Ivoire got an equaliser on the dot of 90 and denied the young Eagles a narrow victory. Nigeria will play Ghana in the next game on December 9.