U17 Africa Cup of Nations: How Nigeria and the qualified teams fared in preparation

As the men’s U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) draw closer, qualified teams have been in high spirited preparations across the continent.

While some of the teams based their preparations at home while some, like Cameroon, decided to have pre-tournament camps in North African countries to acclimatize.

Young Teranga Lions of Senegal have been involved in top friendly matches as they look to follow in the footsteps of the senior compatriots who have won both the AFCON and CHAN competitions.

Although, the team lost three out of the five friendly matches they played. They won against Cameroon winning both legs 1-0 and 2-1 (their only wins).

They lost 3-2 to Morocco,  and lost 4-2 to Zambia, before going down 2-1 to Burkina Faso.

Meanwhile, record qualifiers Nigeria were also busy in their preparations after winning 10 out 11 matches played. Although, most of the matches were against local clubs and academies.

On the other hand, defending champions, Cameroon had mixed results including the back to back losses against Senegal.

The Samuel Eto’o young Lions defeated Espérance 1-0, Club Africain 3-2, and Etoile du Sahel 2-1, and also faced the junior teams of Tunisian clubs, winning in all three matches.

Morocco also played several friendly matches during its preparation. On top of their victory against Senegal, they defeated Mali 1-0 before suffering a 2-1 defeat in a second fixture against the West Africans.

Unlike Morocco and Nigeria, Zambia played only two matches which were against Zambian top flight club Napsa Stars where they lost 4-1, before they went on to win 4-2 against hosts Algeria.

Meanwhile, hosts Algeria had several friendly matches against international opponents and local clubs. They drew 3-3 with Japan, beat Comoros 3-2 and tied with Mali 2-2.

Debutant, South Sudan had a perfect record in their preparatory stage after winning all friendly matches played. They beat the South Sudanese U20 team which was freshly back from their own Cup of Nations in Egypt 1-0, Future Academy 4-2, and Hope Academy 5-0.