Nigeria Football Federation (NFF0 president, Amaju Melvin Pinnick has charged the country’s under-17 national tem, Golden Eaglets to go all out for victory in their second match a the ongoing West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone-B championship in Lome, Togo, megasportsarena.com reports.
With the Eaglets having lost their first game 1-0 against Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday, Pinnick reminded the players and their coaches that nothing short of three points would guarantee them a place in the semi-finals, hence his charge for them to beat Ghana on Saturday.
The charge came at a point Eaglets’ head coach, Fatai Folorunsho Amoo hinted that he will make at least three changes to his starting 11 for Saturday’s game, which he admitted is a must-win encounter against Nigeria’s eternal arch-rivals.
Ahead of the make or mar clash with The Black Starlets, Pinnick urged moo and his wards to adopt a robust winning mentality for the game at Municipal Stadium in Lome, starting 5pm Nigeria time, and he reminded the Eaglets that their performance against Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday was not just good enough.
Losing to the Ivoriens put Amoo’s team in a tight spot, as they now need to beat Ghana in order to stand any realistic chance of advancing to the semi-finals of the competition that serves as qualifiers for this year’s African U-17 Cup of Nations, billed for Morocco in July.
Independent checks in Lome revealed that only a handful of Amoo’s players performed well on Wednesday, with battling efforts from the duo of goalkeeper Destiny Emuwahen and winger Christian Nwachukwu as well as steady inputs by defensive midfielder, Chukwuemeka Egbu, who is skipper of the side.
Amoo claimed stage fright was the main undoing of the boys in that opening game and it is now left to be seen whether they can rise to the occasion against the bigger-looking Ghanaians, who will be aiming to avenge the painful loss they suffered to Nigeria two years ago in Niamey, Niger Republic, when the Eagles went on to win the competition under the charge of Coach Manu Garba.
Heading into Saturday’s epic game, Pinnick charged the players to believe in themselves and go for victory, while also stressing during a visit to the squad at their camp in Hotel Novella Star in Lome that the lads must stay fully focused on the task of representing Nigeria very well.
Pinnick reminded them: “Nigerians don’t want to know about tactics, just go, play and win the game. The mentality of Nigerians is winning, they don’t care how you win, just win.
“Winning gives Nigerians a lot of joy. So, I just want to crave your indulgence to represent Nigeria well. I’m happy that I can see all the players in this U 17 team, I can see that we have the youngest team in this tournament, which of course, I’m very proud of.
“It is a developmental football at this level. It does not mean that we do not want to win. Nigerians wants you to win so that you will be celebrated. We want you to be celebrated, it is very important that we must win. Just work hard and ensure we beat Ghana.
“The attitude we always display is that we can do it. That is the spirit under my leadership in the Nigeria Football Federation and that is what we expect from you. You must be positively rugged to achieve your dream.
“Your coach will tell you the technical and tactical way to achieve winning, but what I will tell you is that you are Nigerians and for you be a Nigerian.”
