Sports
U-17: Eaglets, Guinea Fight For Supremacy, Today
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets will be gunning for their second win at the African U17 Championship in Niger on Wednesday when they face their Guinean counterparts.
It is a straight battle for one of the semifinal tickets in Group A after both teams won their opening games Nigeria beat hosts Niger 2-0, while Guinea beat Zambia 1-0 in what was considered a much better display than what the Eaglets showed.
Both teams have met twice in this competition in 1995 when Nigeria won 2-1 in a group game and drew 2-2 in another group game in 2001.
They were billed to clash in the final in 2001, but Guinea were disqualified due to a FIFA ban on them for government interference in football running and replaced by Burkina Faso, who Nigeria thrashed 3-0.
Guineans best shot in this competition was reaching the 2001 final and winning bronze medal in 1995 edition.
The top-of-the-table clash at the Stade General Seyni Kountche starts at 3pm and the winner will automatically become the first African flag bearers at the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals in Chile later in the year.
Nigeria Football Federation , NFF director of competitions, Mohammed Sanusi, who is in Niamey with the team, said a victory is non-negotiable as Nigeria look to book an early ticket to the finals in Chile to go and defend the world title.
“We are the champions of the world, and that we must underscore boldly here. The Eaglets did well to win their first match against the host nation despite all the odds against them. There is no way Guinea will stand up to our boys on Wednesday.
“The NFF have provided everything the team need to succeed and we expect nothing but victory against the Guineans.”
Meanwhile, Golden Eaglets coach Emmanuel Amuneke has warned that Guinea will be tricky customers in the crucial CAF U17 Championship clash in Niamey
“We are not getting carried away after the victory against Niger because we know Guinea can be tricky after watching them against Zambia,” noted Amuneke.
“We came here with one objective: To qualify for the World Cup in Chile and after that we can begin to talk about other things.
You can see that if you allow them, they can play but if you follow our instructions, we would all have reason to celebrate after the game.”
Already, the Nigerian camp has indentified gifted number 11-shirted Abddoulaye Jules Keita as the lynchpin in the Guinean line-up as well as captain Mohammed Mary Kurume who holds forth in defence, not forgetting agile goalkeeper Mousa Camara, who foiled Zambia repeatedly on Sunday.
The Guineans will seek to avenge their twin loss to their Nigerian counterparts on the road to the last championship in Morocco following a 3-0 and 4-0 win in Calabar and Conakry, respectively.
The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.
Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.
Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.
“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.
Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.
Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.
Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.
Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.
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