Golden Eaglets player ratings : Ogboji night to forget, Abdullahi leaves with reputation intact

The Golden Eaglets lost 2-1 TO Burkina Faso in the quarterfinal of the Africa U17 Cup of Nations played at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Thursday night.

The loss means the Golden Eaglets will not be participating in the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup that will be staged later in the year.

Here is allnigeriasoccer.com's rating of  the Nigeria players

The starters

Goalkeeper 

Richard Odoh:  He was partly at fault for the goal as he couldn't put away the cross. He was good with his feet once again and was decent overall.  5/10

Defenders

Yahaya Lawali: He was lively as ever as kept drifting into the midfield to cause all sorts of trouble but the final ball was lacking. 6.5/10

Jeremiah Olaleke: He was better than the rest of his defensive partners making two goal-line clearances. He also won the majority of his duels .7/10 

Tochukwu Ogboji: He could have done better before Aboubacar Camara struck the ball into the net to give Burkina Faso the lead. He was also culpable for giving away the penalty for Burkina Faso's second goal.  It was a night to forget for the young centre-back. 4/10

Emmanuel Michael: The left-back was easily dribbled in the build-up to Burkina Faso's goal. The young left-back had a poor game by his standard. 5/10

Midfielders and strikers 

Hope Linus: He was one of Nigeria's best players as he offered physical presence in the midfield. His diagonal passes were better today and had a good game overall. 7.5/10 

Tochukuwu Ogbadibo:  Apart from his long-range strikes, he did nothing noteworthy before he was substituted. 5/10

Usman Owoyemi:  The young midfielder was also one of the culprits of Burkina Faso's goal and offered nothing substantial before he was brought off.. 5/10

Abubakar Abdullahi: Abdullahi had his first shot hit the woodwork but showed calmness to tap the ball in for his goal. He was better than the majority of his peers. With five goals combined in the zonal qualifiers and U17 AFCON, Abdullahi leaves Algeria with his repuation intact  7.5/10

Charles Agada: Started centrally in attack but failed to convert the gilt-edged chance that came his way. He failed to replicate the sharpness he showed against South Africa before he was substituted.5/10

Light Eke: Like Agada, he didn't replicate his brilliant performance from the last match and was rightly substituted. 5/10

The substitutes

 Israel Usolor: He didn't offer much when he came on. 5/10

Favour Daniel: He showed cleverness to find Abdullahi at the rear post. He had his chances to restore parity but couldn't hit the target. 5.5/10

Umar Abubakar: He was lively when he came on as he kept running at the tiring Burkinabe's defence. 5.5/10

Precious Williams: The skipper was largely anonymous when he came on. N/A

Simon Cletus:He offered a lot of energy when he came on and should have been brought on earlier.6/10

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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