Cadet national team, Golden Eaglets’ hat-trick hero against Ecuador, Ibrahim Sa’id has come out with a bold declaration that the squad is determined to go all the way to FIFA U-17 World Cup final in Brazil, and take the trophy back home to Nigeria, megasportsarena.com reports.
While also thanking his teammates, the coaches and God for making his treble of goals possible in Tuesday night’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over Ecuador, Sa’id stressed that the Eaglets want to remain unbeaten all through the ongoing Cadet Mundial.
He stated further during Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos that he and his colleagues already declared that they will not lose any match at this year’s championship in The Samba Nation, which he hinted informed their abilities to stay calm and keep fighting back, when they were 2-1 down, first against Hungary on Saturday and then versus Ecuador on Tuesday.
Ironically, Sa’id earlier missed this year’s African U-17 Cup of Nations in Tanzania, after he failed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan for eligibility, but another test after the continental qualifiers showed that the Dabo Babes of Kano battler is qualified for Brazil 2019.
Though now based in Kano, he also made his mark earlier this year playing for DePro in Surulere Regional League in Lagos, but he is now an international hero, after making hay in the 5fth, 85th and 89th minutes to catapult Nigeria into the round of 16 at the ongoing Cadet Mundial.
In doing so, Sa’id became the seventh Eaglets’ player to hit the net three times in an U-17 World Cup match – more than any other nation in the competition’s history, following the first Nigerian hat-trick by Nwankwo Kanu at Japan ’93 and the last by Victor Osimhen at Chile 2015.
One more goal would have seen Sa’id equal a record of goals scored in a single game, held jointly by Kelechi Iheanacho, who struck four times against Mexico at UAE 2013, but the youngster said he is not thinking about personal marks, only to help his team qualify for the round of 16 and beyond, as he stressed that their target is to return home with the trophy.
The dark-skinned midfield battler, who was named man of the match for his troika of goals, one in the first half to open the floodgates and two in the game’s last five minutes, added that he and his teammates want to make all Nigerians proud, hence their determination to keep winning all their matches, of which the next we will be a last Group B game against Australia on Friday.
Sa’id stated: “I am happy that I was able to score three goals, and that we won the match. I thank my teammates for helping me to score the goals and to God for making it possible. We have said that we do not want to lose any match in this competition. We will not lose any match, because we want to take the cup back to Nigeria. God will help us to win this cup.”
