Nigeria and Tanzania U-20 girls battled to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup African qualifying series second-round fixture in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.
It was a cagey affair in the first 45 minutes as both sides tried to avoid conceding as they bid to book a spot for next year’s Mundial in Colombia
There was little action in the first half of the encounter at Dar es Salaam but the game came to life in the second half.
After a scoreless first period, substitute Chioma Olise put Nigeria in front three minutes before the hour mark at the Azam Sports Complex in Tanzania’s commercial and industrial capital.
The home girls responded 13 minutes later when Asnath Ubamba fired home from a free kick, to which Nigeria’s goalkeeper Anderlin Mgebchi had no answer.
Both teams fought hard to establish superiority at the tail end of the encounter on the artificial turf, but the scoreline remained the same.
The Falconets will return to Nigeria on Tuesday with high expectations to overpower the Tanzanians when both teams clash in the second leg on Sunday.
Christopher Danjuma’s girls will hope to emulate the Super Falcons’ performance in the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers after scaling through to the last round of the qualification series despite playing a 1-1 draw away from home against Ethiopia.
