Shocks and surprises as finalists emerge

The eight teams for the final tournament for the 20thn edition of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Zambia 2017 are now known, but it wasn’t without the usual shocks and surprises that characterises the battle for places of any major championship.

Prior to the weekend’s second leg matches of the third round and final round, host Zambia was the only confirmed participant by virtue of the tournament taking place on their soil.

At the close of Sunday, the seven other spots were picked by Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, South Africa and Sudan.

Sudan made the headlines with the biggest shock upsetting holders Nigeria 4-3 away in Lagos on Saturday to qualify via away goals after a 5-5 tie on aggregate, the second time in a row the defending champion has missed the final party.

The feat served a repeat of what happened in the qualifiers for the 1997 edition in Morocco, when Sudan edged Nigeria in what marked their only appearance at the eight team tournament.

Striker Khaled Abdulmonen Osman was hero for the Sudanese netting a hat-trick, which fuelled their bid for victory despite finishing the game with ten men after Walaa Eldin Musa was sent off after a second yellow card on 63 minutes. Samuel Chukwueze, Funsho Bamgboye and Orji Okonkwo were the scorers for Nigeria, who paraded a squad dominated by graduates from the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 winning squad. Sudan’s other goal was from Amjad Ismail.

Whilst the Flying Eagles will be missing out on the showpiece youth football championship for …

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