The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CAF U-17

  • CAF U-17 championship: Nigeria to play Niger

    CAF U-17 championship: Nigeria to play Niger

    Reigning FIFA U-17 world champions Nigeria will meet Niger Republic in the second round U-17 African Nations Cup qualifier in August.

    The Golden Eaglets qualifying pool also has Algeria, Libya and Gabon, africanFootball.com reports.

    Algeria and Libya will slug it out in the first round between June and July, before the winner of that encounter play Gabon in the second round in August.

    The winner of that tie will battle the victors of the Nigeria and Niger clash in September to determine the qualifier for the tournament to be staged by Madagascar in April 2017.

    The top four teams in Madagascar will represent Africa at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

     

     

  • Amuneke blames players for CAF U-17 shame • Says God ‘willed our defeat’

    Amuneke blames players for CAF U-17 shame • Says God ‘willed our defeat’

    Coach of the Nigeria U-17 Eaglets, Emmanuel Amuneke  says his team’s dismal performance in the third place play-off against Guinea on Sunday, was entirely his players’ fault and it was God’s will for the team to miss out of a podium spot.

    Amuneke, who was a member of the Golden Eaglets’ coaching crew at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, was commissioned by the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF to lead Nigeria’s title defence in the 2015 World Cup in Chile.

    Although the team had already booked a World Cup ticket after it went top of its group and qualified for the semi-final, prompting the coach to suggest that the World Cup qualification was the primary target, Amuneke said it was God’s will that Nigeria missed out on a title in Niger.

    “We have qualified to Chile, but I understand our standards and how much Nigerians want titles. We’ve dominated on the continent in the past and it’s understandable if the fans demand more titles.

    “At this stage most of the countries are growing, it’s a developmental stage and Nigeria has been doing same to ensure players grow. We played a draw in the group stage but they were better than us in the third place meeting, Though we took the lead in the game our players lost focus and conceded cheap goals.

    “Against South Africa, we had several chances coming off the bar and at that point we knew it was just ill luck and it wasn’t God’s will for us to win the tournament,” Amuneke offered.

     

  • Ahead OF CAF U-17 Championship qualifier: Amuneke drops five players from Eaglets squad

    Ahead OF CAF U-17 Championship qualifier: Amuneke drops five players from Eaglets squad

    Five players have been dropped by Nigeria U-17 coach Emmanuel Amuneke as they step up their preparation for an African Championship qualifier against Gabon in September.

    The players are Ebije Yahaya, Prince Omosowhofa, Chinedu Madueke,  Kingsley Ohiri and Kabiru Muhammed-incidentally all midfielders-and have since left the team’s camp in Calabar.

    The five, who were given the marching order, according to the coaching crew, have significantly dropped in form and have contributed little to the fortune of the team in recent times.

    The Golden Eaglets dispatched Congo Democratic Republic on a 5-0 aggregate early this month, but coach  Amuneke said there was no room for complacency.

    “The party is over and it is about time we forget about what we had done recently,” Amuneke told the players.

    “But it is unfortunate that some have not really measured up to the standard we expected.

    “We must now focus our attention squarely on Gabon because it would be their desire to qualify for the Under-17 Championship in Niger.

    “We have reasonably pruned down the list based on the need of the team according to their performance in comparison to others “explained Emeka Amadi, goalkeepers’ trainer, adding that the coaching crew has a pool of players  to be called upon when the need arises.

    “The good thing is that we are in a process of raising a team that can defend the World Cup won in 2013 and we would continue to shuffle the team from time to time since we have about 45 players registered with Confederation of African Football (CAF).”

  • CAF U-17: Garba wants Cote d’Ivoire revenge

    CAF U-17: Garba wants Cote d’Ivoire revenge

    Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba, has said he will seek to avenge a 1-0 loss against Cote d’Ivoire in Saturday’s CAF U-17 Championship final.

    Cote d’Ivoire inflicted the Eaglets first-ever loss whether in a friendly or competitive game.

    Manu said his team was unlucky in the group game against the Ivoirians.

    “The final match against Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday is going to be a different ball game because we were unlucky when we lost 1-0 in the group stage,” the coach told MTNFootball.com.

    “We are going to play a better game because we now know them better.”

    The continental championship though remains the main target of the Golden Eaglets.

    “We are very happy to qualify for the final because our aim was to come here and win this trophy and make Nigerians happy,” said forward Chidera Ezeh.

    “We are happy to be in the final and as usual, we would be waiting for instructions from our coaches to play against Cote d’ Ivoire in the final.”

    Tunisia coach Ben Soltane Abdelhay equally admitted that Wednesday’s semi-final was a difficult game for both teams, while admitting that the Nigerians were stronger and deserved their place in the final.

    “It was a tough match for us because the Nigerias were stronger physically,” he said.”The temperature affected us too but that is not taking anything away from Nigeria.”

    Saturday’s final between Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire would be the first at this level, but it would be Nigeria’s fourth final appearance.

    The Golden Eaglets conquered the continent twice in 2001 and 2007, but were unsuccessful in 1995.

     

  • CAF U- 17: Eaglets through to final

    CAF U- 17: Eaglets through to final

    Golden Eaglets of Nigeria, in Morocco today qualified for the final of the ongoing CAF U-17 Championship when they thrashed resilient Tunisian team 4-2 at the Grande Stade de Marrakech. Nigeria will now face Cote d’ Ivoire who also spanked host nation Morocco 2-1, in the final on Saturday.

    Kelechi Iheanacho opened scoring in the 2nd minute of the match to take his goal tally to four, while the lead scorer Isaac Success scored his seventh goal of the tournament in the 21st minute to take his goal tally to seven.

    The surprise Man of the Match, was, however, attacking midfielder Musa Yahaya who got a brace in the 11th and 58th minute of the game.

    The Eaglets have now confirmed their pre-tournament rating and ready to take the Trophy for the third time after winning their last championship under late Coach Yemi Tella in 2007, when they went ahead to win the FIFA U- 17 World Cup that year.

    Success’ second goal in the 89th minute was ruled offside by the referee but the Nigerians had already done enough to wrap up the game. The Tunisians, however, fought desperately from the second half to save the game but the watertight defence of the Nigerians was their bane.

    Eaglets’ Coach Manu Garba who incidentally was Tella’s first assistant coach in 2007 has the opportunity of repeating the feat of 2007 and he has the quality players backed up with seasoned coaches Emmanuel Amunike and Nduka Ugbade to repeat the success of 2007.

  • CAF U-17 tourney: Eaglets will be champions – Garba

    CAF U-17 tourney: Eaglets will be champions – Garba

    Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba has restated his team will be African U-17 champions after Sunday’s 6-1 victory over Ghana.

    Supersport.com reports that Nigeria has won the U-17 championship twice with the last triumph being in 2007 in Togo.

    “We enjoyed this victory against the Ghanaians because they a good side and we are traditional opponents,”Supersport.com quoted Garba as saying at the post match conference.

    “It is a good start for us, but we remain focused because we have not won anything yet.

    “This is not the first time Nigeria is winning by a big margin at this level, when we won the tournament in Togo in 2007, we beat Eritrea 8-0, but this is the first time we are beating Ghana this way.

    “We are happy and we are looking forward to a good tournament and by the grace of God, we shall qualify for the World Cup as African champions.”

    Star striker Isaac Success lived up to the billing by grabbing four goals with Bernard Bulbwa and Kelechi Iheanacho also getting among the goals.

    Success was given the match ball following his hat-trick and has dedicated his goals to his mother and Golden Eaglets teammate, Friday Njengo, who is still at the National Hospital Abuja following injury in an auto crash in February.

    Njengo, who had been in coma for weeks, was recently transferred from the hospital’s intensive care unit to the general ward as he recuperates.