Ecuador’s cadet national team coach, Javier Rodríguez and captain, Joan Lopez have both raised the ante ahead of their clash with Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, as gthey both believe their squad will take advantage of over-confidence, lax defending, poor marking and open space in midfield that the West Africans could be guilty of, megasportsarena.com reports.
After seeing the Eagles give away to two goals and have to struggle from behind to beat Hungary 4-2 in their opening match, Rodríguez believes the five-time Cadet Mundial winners are very vulnerable, and Ecuador’s captain agrees with the gaffer.
The Eaglets have reached the U17 World Cup final eight times, lost only three and won the cup in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015, which Rodríguez believes will make the Nigerian lads careless against his side, and went on to categorically declare that his wards have what it takes to win their second straight match of Group B on Tuesday evening.
Having both won their opening games, the African and South American sides will be out for a feisty fight for the leadership of the group and possible early qualification to the round of 16, ahead of which Rodríguez pinpointed what he believes will be the Eaglets’ undoing.
Rodríguez told Radio Area Deportiva: ”Nigeria is a difficult opponent, has five championships in this category, has a physical power and mental capacity, we will take advantage of the individual. We have to take advantage of the confidence that Nigeria has and the space they leave us.”
Ecuador’s captain that team spirit and understanding will help them achieve victory against the Nigerians, as he believes his team will be boosted by memories of their efforts in the opening match, when they dug deep to overcome Australia 2-1.
Lopez, who is also Ecuador’s first choice goalkeeper, further declared that the team’s chemistry and spirit of togetherness have propelled them thus far, despite not being able to win the trophy on home soil, when they hosted the tournament in 1995, while the then defending champions, Nigeria, crashed out in the quarter-finals after surprisingly losing 2-0 to Oman.
He is of a view that that defeat for the Eaglets back then must have been due to overconfidence in the game against Oman, who are minnows in all levels of football, such that Lopez agrees with his coach that their side have a chance of catching Nigeria unawares again on Tuesday.
Heading into the game at Goiania Olimpico Stadium, Goiania, Lopez added that Los Negriazules will also be boosted by keen understanding among all the players and, though he admits they will face a stiff test from the Eaglets, the skipper stressed that that are ready to face all odds.
“We have all been working together within the national team for a year now in this cycle. We all have an excellent understanding of each other and are prepared for whatever comes our way,” Lopez told fifa.com ahead of Tuesday’s 9pm kick-off.
