Nigeria, 2014 bronze medalists, will be up against their fellow West African neighbours for the next stage of CHAN AFCON qualifier.
The hawks edged Benin’s Squirrels via penalty (3-4) after their two-legged fixtures ended 2-2 aggregate.
In an entertaining home game in Cotonou, the Squirrel were poised to make their home support count after an impressive 1-1 draw away in Lome last week.
However, the Togolese had other ideas.
Unruffled with the idea of taking the Beninoise at their back yard, the Hawks came into the encounter with full determination as they intend to keep their Kenya dream alive. And it was a dream come true as they held their nerves in the penalty shootout after 1-1 draw at the end of 90 minutes and regulation time to sneak into the next round where they now confront Coach Salisu Yusuf’s home based Eagles.
The Eagles will play the first leg away on the 11th of August at Stade de l’Amitie Cotonou, while the return leg will be played at Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano on the 18th of next month.