‘Golden Eaglets ready for Guinea challenge’

GOLDEN Eaglets’ Captain, Kelechi Nwakali, believes his team can beat Guinea in Wednesday’s top of the table clash between two teams that won their opening games at the on-going African Under-17 Championship in Niger Republic.

  Nigeria on Sunday defeated hosts, Niger Republic, 2-0 to top the table on goal difference from Guinea, who beat Zambia by a lone goal in Group A’s second match.

  A win for either team will guarantee them a semifinal ticket, which translates to qualification for the FIF Under-17 World Cup in Chile.   

  Looking forward a tough, but fruitful outing tomorrow, Nwakali, who was voted Man-of-the-match against Niger Republic, told a local website that “we are ready for any team that comes our way. Our ambition is to win the trophy our predecessors lost narrowly two years ago and not even Guinea can stop us.

  “Our coaches have told us of the importance of the game against Guinea and we are not toying with it. We believe that our determination and tough training for this competition will see us through.”

  Also speaking on tomorrow’s game, Eaglets’ coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, said Sunday’s defeat of Niger Republic was a good beginning for his team, adding, “Now, we have to see how we can grow from strength to strength.”

 The Eaglets returned to training yesterday morning to begin preparations for the Guinea tie, which the team’s Media Officer, Abodunrin Morakinyo, describes as a tough test for the boys.

  “With the first game behind them, the boys are eager for the next opponent. The second game is more significant because victory will guarantee the team a semifinal ticket, which means qualification for the World Cup. So, the coaches and the players are working hard to ensure that they get a good game on Wednesday,” he said.

  Morakinyo described the atmosphere in the team’s camp as peaceful, although he shied away from predicting how tomorrow’s game would end.

  “In this game, we don’t like going into permutations. We don’t predict the outcome of a game that has not been played, but I want to assure Nigerians that these boys are ready to make them proud,” he said.