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 Ndubusi Ndah in the 71st minute
Nigeria U-23 goalkeeper Adamu Abubakar made a fantastic save in the 16th munute to deny the Ivorians of a likely opener.
The first half petered away with both sides unable to get on the score sheet.
Nigeria's head coach Imama Amapakabo made two quick fire changes in the 54th and 56th minutes respectively bringing on Sunday Faleye and Valentine Ozornwafor for Bright Enobakhare and Orji Okonkwo.
Before Okonkwo was substituted off, he had a great chance to score, seeing his header come off the crossbar from a corner kick.
Ivory Coast however grabbed a winner in the 71st minute goal after a controversial penalty awarded by Egyptian referee Mohamed Maarouf .
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.