Five takeaways from Golden Eaglets' next opponent Burkina Faso win v Cameroon 

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets will face Burkina Faso on Wednesday in the semifinals of the CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations after the Burkinabès defeated Cameroon in the last Group C game to advance to the knockout stage as runners up below Mali. 

Allnigeriasoccer.com here presents the takeaways from the next opponents of Nigeria for a place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. 

1. Cameroon dominates 

Aside the final outcome of the game which is the most important factor, Cameroon had the better statistics in-game with more ball possession, more accurate passes, and more goal attempts. 

Cameroon even went ahead through Matah Yondjio before a brace from Souleymane Alio settled the game. 

This showed that Burkina Faso could be exploited early on a game unless of course they learn from their experience Sunday evening by going for it early enough against Nigeria. 

2. Wasted first half chances 

Burkina Faso missed goal scoring chances in the first half that could have proved costly. 

Their buildup plays are great to watch but finishing especially in the first half left much to be desired. 

3. Defensive alertness is needed by Golden Eaglets 

The Burkina Faso team have promising players that troubled the young Cubs from Cameroon with their pace and trickery. 

The Nigerian side also have similarly good players but the defence will play a huge role in determining the winners. 

Nduka Ugbade's team will be disciplined at the back to hope for qualification to the semifinals. 

If that could be taken care of, the Nigerians can match or even surpass Burkinabès in terms of skills and flair. 

4. Set piece options 

Both defences are strong. They managed to curtail the threats of either attacking players. The Eaglets would need to be at their attacking best and exploit the chance of winning a lot of set pieces to get past the Francophone West African side. 

Hopefully left back Emmanuel Michael who is an expert in scoring from free kicks will get his first goal in the tournament on Wednesday. 

5. Height advantage for Burkina Faso 

The Burkina Faso players are mostly tall youngsters compared with the Cameroonians and that could count for something on Wednesday. 

One of the game plan against Nigeria is likely to be overloading the central places with crosses to use their aerial prowess to the maximum. 

Izuchukwu Michael
 

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