Day Of Decision For Golden Eaglets
• No Room For Errors Against Brazil,
Says Amuneke
“We have seen the stuff the Brazilians
are made of, but it would be a
totally different ball game on Sunday
(today) because this is a World Cup
match and not a friendly match or a pre-
World Cup tournament. I’m hopeful we
are going to put up a good fight against
them.”
These were the words of Golden Eaglets
Coach Emmanuel Amuneke yesterday,
while speaking ahead of today’s
quarterfinal clash against their Brazilian
counterparts in the ongoing FIFA U-17
World Cup in Chile.
The Golden Eaglets have won the title
four times as against three for Brazil.
Today’s game at the Estadio Sausalito in
Vina del Mar will begin at 16.00 pm local
time (8 pm Nigeria time). This is the first
time Nigeria and Brazil will clash for a
semi final ticket in the history of
the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Amuneke told thenff.com that today’s
game against Brazil would be a battle
royale saying: “Our match against Brazil
on Sunday (today) is not a cup final, but
it is not going to be an easy match either.
This is one more game towards our
objectives; the Brazilian team is very
good and over a month ago, we beat
them 2-1 at the Suwon U-17
Youth Invitational Tournament in South
Korea.
“This time, both teams would be at their
best because we have both seen ourselves
in Korea and I expect this to be a
difficult match for both teams. But what
would count is the mentality of both
teams. We don’t build our team on jokers
rather, we want to play as a
team because every player brought here
is equal to the task,” Amuneke stated.
Nigeria and Brazil have seemingly had
an identical route to the quarterfinal
stage after both lost once at the Estadio
Francisco Sanchez Rumoroso in
Coquimbo at the group phase. Whereas
Brazil lost 1-0 to South Korea in their
first opening match in Group B, the
Golden Eaglets lost 2-1 to Croatia in their
last Group A match.
Amuneke says there won’t be margin for
errors in today’s game.
Meanwhile, midfielder, David
Enogela has vowed not to give Brazil
room to penetrate his team. His slip led
to Croatia’s winning goal in the team’s
2-1 loss. “I almost lost my
confidence after I made that error
against Croatia, but it won\t happen
again” Enogela said.
0 Comments :
COMMENT