Golden Eaglets’ freekick sensation, Emmanuel Michael, has said that scoring a brilliant brace in Tuesday’s 3-1 win against defending champions Cote D’Ivoire was the best moment of his life thus far.
The full-back shot a pair of excellent free-kicks to help Nigeria book a place in the final of the WAFU B Championship and qualify for the 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations in Algeria next year.
The Ivorians stunned the Golden Eaglets when they raced into the lead through a penalty converted by Yau Diomande in the second minute after Miracle Ogwor hauled down Diomande in the 18-yard-box.
The Golden Eaglets, however, unleashed their secret weapon in Emmanuel Michael, and the youngster, from a seemingly impossible angle, curled in a free-kick to draw Nigeria level midway through the opening half.
Michael had won the man-of-the-match award in both of Nigeria’s first two games in the competition against host Ghana and Togo and he again showed his quality shortly before the interval.
After stepping over another free-kick, the Simoiben Academy product bent the ball over a wall of Ivorian defenders and into the net to make it 2-1 for the Eaglets.
Abdullahi Idris got the third goal for Nigeria on the hour mark while Michael could have netted a hat trick, but his freekick missed the target by whiskers in the 77th minute.
Micheal said: “Today (Tuesday) is the happiest day of my life. I am very happy,” Michael said after receiving his third Man-of-the-match award of the tournament.
“It has been a long time since I started practicing it, anytime I have it I already have the mind to score,” he explained on how he became a freekick specialist.