Nigeria's U-23 Eagles on Saturday evening at the Al Salaam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, were defeated 1-0 by Cote d' Ivoire in their first Group B match of the 2019 CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations which serves as qualifiers to the football event of the 2020 Olympic Games.

The Eagles finished the west African derby with ten men following a red card handed to defender Olisa Ndah in the 71st minute

Nigeria U-23 goalkeeper Adamu Abubakar made a fantastic save in the 16th minute to deny the Ivorians of a likely opener.

Nigeria's head coach Imama Amapakabo made two quick fire changes in the 54th and 56th minutes respectively bringing on Sunday Faleye and Sunusi Ibrahim for Olabiran Muyiwa and Bright Enobakahre respectively.

Before Okonkwo was substituted off, he had a great chance to score, seeing his header come off the crossbar from a corner kick.

The match produced no further goals with the Nigerian side, the defending champions of the CAF tournament needing to defeat Zambia and South Africa to stand a chance of reaching the semifinals.

Izuchukwu Okosi