Nigeria Golden Eaglets booked their ticket to the quarter finals of the TotalEnergies AFCON U17 tournament in Algeria after a hard fought win against South Africa in Constantine.
A five goals thriller saw the Golden Eaglets trailed twice before Abdullahi scored the winning goal in the .
Golden Eaglets coach Nduka Ugbade made two changes to the team that lost to Morocco bringing in Light Eke and Charles Agada to start ahead of Precious Williams and Favour Daniel make way for the duo.
Read Also:AFCON U17: Wasteful Eaglets Succumbs To Morocco In Constantine
The Golden Eaglets just like the game against Morocco, conceded an early goal in the 5th minute.
However, unperturbed with the trailing, they settled down quickly and kept pressing for the equalizer.
Two minutes later Abdullahi missed from close range that could have levelled matters for the Eaglets.
Again, Agada got the substitute bench up their feet as he tried to score but the ball ended at back of the net before the linesman raised his flag for offside.
Ten minutes to the end of the first half, Charles Agada with finally got the equaliser for the Eaglets.
At the brink of the first half break, South Africa retook the lead as the first half ended 2-1.
The Golden Eaglets quickly got the business in the second half , in the 50tj minute Light Eke levelled after he was played through by Agada.
Abdulahi then went ahead to put the Golden Eaglets in front for the first time.
Despite turning the tide, Nigeria kept on piling pressure on South Africa outplaying the COSAFA side but could not convert their chances.
The game ended 3-2 as the Golden Eaglets now joined Morocco to the quarterfinals.