Nigeria’s under-17 national team, Golden Eaglets’ coach, Fatai Folorunsho Amoo (Arsenal) has declared that he and his players will be all out for victory in Wednesday’s clash with Coe d’Ivoire at the West African Football Union 9WAFU0 Zone-B championship in Lome, Togo, megasportsarena.com reports.
Speaking at the point of his side’s departure from Lagos for the competition on Sunday, Amoo assured that he and his assistants have done everything within their abilities and experience to put the Eaglets into proper shape for he competition and declared that they will be gunning for victory in their opening Group B game.
With the cadet squad also set to play against Ghana this weekend in their second group match, Amoo acknowledged that winning Wednesday’s game is paramount to their target of qualifying for the semi-final, while also playing down the fact that he was forced to make a last-minute change to his squad due to an injury copped by promising defender, Emmanuel Chukwu.
The towering stopper from Yak Sports Academy was regarded as one of the current under-17 team’s top prospects, though he only clocked 14 in November, but Chukwu’s place in the 25-player roster has since been handed to Philip Titiloye, a central defender from Boltimore Armour FC, who was initially one of five on standby.
However, following the second round of MRI tests knocked out more of Amoo’s hopefuls, meaning the coach will now have to adopt a new tactical approach for Wednesday’s first group game against Cote d’Ivoire.
Information gathered from the Eaglets’ camp in Lome revealed that Amoo was forced to come out with an entirely different game plan after 40 of the 60 players picked for the tournament failed the MRI age test in Abuja, even as the team had been brimming with several top quality central defenders, which made the gaffer adopt the 3-5-2 formation.
However, after the test eliminated many of these central defenders, Amoo is now joggling between 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formations, even as camp sources noted that a solid and adventurous defence had been the tactician’s initial mainstay, but he will now count on their midfield and attack.
Nonetheless, captain of the side, Chukwemeka Egbu will most likely be deployed as the team’s main defensive midfield, as he has been found to be athletic and very effective despite his tiny size, while offensive midfielders Samuel Akere and John Kolawole have the quality to be among the competition’s standout players.
In attack, top striker Joseph Arumala holds the aces, alongside winger Christian Nwachukwu, who has come into his element in the closing days of training camp in Abuja and now has four goals and four assists in five test games.
The Eaglets, who spent a night in Lagos after arriving from their base in Abuja on Saturday, flew into Lome on Sunday, and Amoo is eagerly looking forward to a triumphant start to the zonal competition, which will serve as qualifiers for this year’s Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Amoo’s lads will take on the Ivorians at 4pm local time on Wednesday at Stade Municipal in Lome, after which they will face Ghana at same venue on Saturday, ahead of which Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) communications department drew up an exciting preview.
The NFF’s media unit stated in a press release: “Pedigree, pride and career aspiration aside, the Eaglets are sure to derive some kind of vicarious motivation from the below-par outing of the Nigeria U20 Boys at the WAFU B U20 Tournament in Benin Republic last month.
“Nigeria conquered the world in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015, and alongside Ghana have dominated cadet football on the African continent, with Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal to be reckoned with as well on the basis of investment and focus on youth development.
“The Eaglets’ first encounter in Lome will be against the Ivorians, at the Stade Municipal on Wednesday from 4pm, and should serve as a pointer to how much the Eaglets are keen to conquer Africa again. On Saturday at the same venue, they clash with Ghana’s Black Starlets in a potentially explosive encounter between two teams with eight world titles between them.
“Hosts Togo will open the two-week tournament against Niger Republic at the Stade Kegue on Tuesday, hours before Group A’s other teams Benin Republic and Burkina Faso clash at the same venue. Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire make up the three-team Group B.”
Amoo’s 25 players for the WAFU competition include three goalkeepers – Destiny Emuwahen, Abdulbasit Abbas and Saheed Jimoh – as well as six defenders – Victor Udoh, Joseph Kuteyi, Chukwuemeka Egbu, Philip Titiloye, Oludapo Akintola and Emmanuel John.
Also listed are six midfielders – Benjamin Mustapha, Oluwatomiwa Kolawole, Rabiu Ahmed, Samuel Akere, Vince Osuji and Haruna Hassan; as well as 10 wingers/forwards – Michael Emmanuel, Gideon Atoyebi, Samson Ogunmola, Christian Nwachukwu, Peter Asuquo, Basheet Hamzat, Ahmed Abdullahi, Abdullahi Bewene, Joseph Arumala and Stanley Iheanacho.
The two finalists of this tournament will advance to this year’s African U-17 Cup of Nations, and Amoo says his boys are ready to go as they aim to qualify for the competition in Morocco in July, even after more than half of his initial regulars in the squad were dropped after they failed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans age test.
Amoo acknowledged that it is important to win the opening game, in order to take pressure off the team, and added: “We know the first game is always a tough game and if you can do well in your first game that will stabilize your team, and that’s what we have worked for.
“Three points will kind of boost the confidence of the team. That’s what we envisage that should happen to us so that we can be at a very comfortable position in terms of winning the game. The boys are prepared, they are enthusiastic to represent their fatherland.”
