Amuneke Rallies Eaglets For Bronze Match

GOLDEN Eaglets’ Head Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has psyched his wards to go all out for a victory in today’s third-place match against Guinea as parting gift from Niger 2015 CAN U-17     Championship.
   Nigeria secured a ticket to the 2015 World Cup in Chile by reaching the semi finals but was halted in their quest for a place in the Final after a 1-0 defeat to Amajimbos of South Africa.
 But speaking ahead of the game against Guinea, Amuneke told the players that a bronze medal is better than nothing.
  “We wished to play in the final but that is no longer going to happen but let us be focused and play the third-place match as if it is the Cup Final,” Amuneke said.
  “We have to put behind the loss against South Africa because we can’t do anything about it again; what we can now do is to give our best against Guinea on Sunday.”
Incidentally, both Nigeria and Guinea played a pulsating 1-1 match in their preliminary Group a match and Amuneke said it was important for the players to go all out against the Guineans.
   He said: “The match on Sunday is an opportunity for us to make up for the semi-final loss and again, it is an opportunity to redeem our pride and correct the mistakes we made against Guinea in the last game.”
   Meanwhile, all the players bar injured Christian Charles and Kingsley Michael who are down with malaria; are available for selection against Guinea. The team is expected to depart Niamey this night for Abuja after the curtain is drawn on Niger 2015.
  The match kicks off at 4pm Nigerian time at the Stade Général Seyni Kountché before the championship’s Final Match between Mali and South Africa.
  In another development, Gommo Daouda from host nation Niger Republic has been listed by Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the referee for Sunday’s third-place match between Nigeria and Guinea.
   Also picked was Arsenio Chardreque Merengula from Mozambique, Hamza Hagi Abdi from Somalia and Serigne Toure from Senegal as the three assistant referees. Helder Carvallo from Angola would be the reserve referee.
   The match commissioner, Ibrahim Eth Tiemogo is also from Niger Republic while the General Coordinator would be former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) General Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba. It would be recalled that Ojo-Oba was also on duty at the Stade Municipal when Nigeria thrashed Zambia 3-1 to seal their ticket to the World Cup in Chile.