Go For Fifth Crown, NFF Boss Tells Golden Eaglets
‘I Resisted Pressure To Sack Amuneke’
“Today, you convinced Nigerians you are
the best and I want to thank you on
behalf of Nigerians, especially President
Muhammadu Buhari, for playing your
hearts out and truly demonstrating the
never-say-die Nigerian spirit.”
Those were the words of NFF President,
Amaju Pinnick while rejoicing with
players and officials of the Golden
Eaglets after beating Mexico 4-2 to
secure passage to the final of the 2015
FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.
The Eaglets came from a goal down to
thrash the Mexicans and set up an all-
African final against Mali tomorrow.
Pinnick, who left Nigeria for Chile on
Tuesday, said amidst thunderous ovation
inside the Eaglets’ locker room at
the Estadio Municipal Ester Roa after the
victory that the story would be sweeter if
the Eaglets can beat Mali and win their
fifth crown tomorrow.
He also revealed how he was pressurized
by certain individuals to sack coach
Emmanuel Amuneke after the Eaglets
failed to win the African U-17 title in
Niger Republic earlier this year.
“Here in Chile, Emmanuel has shamed
all the doubting Thomases, but I don’t
want you to forget that the most
important match is against Mali
on Sunday. This is a life -time
opportunity for you to write your names
in gold and you know how
appreciative our country can be to
winners and heroes. Sunday is the day to
write your names into the history
books,” Pinnick noted.
Meanwhile, Coach Amuneke has declared
that Mali, who also came from behind to
beat Belgium 3-1 in the other semi final
match, would be a tough nut to crack.
History will be made tomorrow with the
second all-African FIFA U-17 World Cup
final since 1993, when Nigeria beat
Ghana 2-1 at Japan ’93, and Amuneke
said: “The Malians are the African
champions, and we have to respect them.
Aside that, they have also had
a great tournament here in Chile. But we
are a team that finds a way to play and
function no matter the difficulty posed
by the opposition.”
The 1994 African Footballer of the
Year added: “When Sunday comes, we
are going to play Mali and I think it is
going to be an interesting match but we
want to enjoy this moment because this
was a great match against a very strong
Mexican team. We thank God, we are
going to play the final again on
Sunday and this gives us the opportunity
to defend the trophy we won in 2013.”
It’s my ball….This Golden Eaglet seems to
tell his Mexican challenger in Thursday’s
semifinal of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Nigeria won 4-2 picture below
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