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Tag: Emmanuel Amuneke

  • Amuneke: we won’t underrate any team

    Amuneke: we won’t underrate any team

    Golden Eaglets’ coach, Emmanuel Amuneke in his reaction to the Africa U-17 Championship draws held Sunday morning at the CAF headquarters in Cairo as fair and assured that his team will only focus at securing a  ticket to the 2015 FIFA World Cup in Chile.

    “I think it is a fair draw not minding the fact that we are going to face the host country, Niger,” Amuneke stated.

    “We are not going to underrate any of the teams and as I said before the draw, our sole objective in Niger is to qualify for the World Cup and after that, we can begin to talk about other things.

    The Golden Eaglets have their work cut out since they are going to battle against the host whom their illustrious predecessors, white-washed 10-1 on aggregate in the qualifiers for Morocco 2013 where they finished second and secured a ticket to the FIFA World Cup in the UAE – and eventually earned Nigeria a record fourth title.

    “We are aware of the task ahead of us and what happened between the Golden Eaglets and Niger the last time is immaterial now,” noted Amuneke.

    “Our boys have to go out there and show that this set of Golden Eaglets are good in their own right and we must first secure a ticket to the World Cup.

    Though Zambia and Guinea are making a return to the competition after a break  since they failed to qualify the last time in Morocco, Amuneke said they won’t be treated with kid’s gloves: “Both Zambia and Guinea showed they are a strong side during the qualifiers; so we are going to take all our matches seriously.”

    In the other half of the draw, defending champions, Cote d’Ivoire would slug it out in Group B along with the trio of South Africa, Mali and Cameroon who incidentally were not in Morocco 2013.

    Niger 2015 tournament will take place between February 15th and March 1st next year in Niger with the semi-finalists guaranteed a ticket to the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.

  • Amuneke: I don’t have a Facebook account

    Amuneke: I don’t have a Facebook account

    EMMANUEL Amuneke (MON), Golden Eaglets’ Head coach, has categorically denied having a Facebook account, saying he should not be associated with an impostor on the social web.

    A certain person has for long been parading himself as the 1994 African Footballer of the Year on Facebook but Amuneke said it was nothing but a fictitious account since he’s not on any social media for that matter.

    “I’m not on Facebook and I’m not ashamed of saying so,”Amuneke said. “The only thing I do on my phone is receiving calls and at worst, use the short message service (sms), but count me out of anything outside that.”

    Amuneke said it was unfortunate that ‘one clown’ would be using his personality in order to deceive unsuspecting members of the public, warning Nigerians to be wary of the impersonator. As at the last check, the copycat claimed Amuneke attended Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) amongst other things.

    “I’m not on Facebook, I don’t tweet and in fact, I don’t have any social media account,” Amuneke maintained. “I don’t have the time for such and my colleagues here know I’m not part of the crowd on social network.

    “Any Emmanuel Amuneke with my photograph on Facebook is a fraud and I’m using this opportunity to warn the public so that nobody fools them,” Amuneke added.

  • Eaglets brace up for Congo challenge

    Eaglets brace up for Congo challenge

    • As Amuneke salutes Abass

    Emmanuel Amuneke,coach of national Under-17 team, is optimistic that the Golden Eaglets would be battle ready for their upcoming African Championship qualifier against Democratic Republic of Congo after their impressive performance on a two-match tour to Egypt.

    In a postmortem of their two-match tour of Cairo at the weekend, Amuneke said he was impressed with the team’s overall performance even as he singled out nail-as-hard defender,Usman Abass for special praise.

    He said: “If you compare the Egyptians we met in Cairo with the one we met in Kaduna,you would see that there is a marked difference with the team we beat in Kaduna and I really praise our boys for being able to withstand the challenge.

    “They are physically stronger and more tactically aware and it takes a team with good mental attitude to deal with them and I’m happy we came out with good results.”

    The ‘Boys from Nigeria’ drew goalless  with Egypt last Friday and followed up with an impressive 4-2 win on Sunday but the name on the lips of everyone was that of Abuja-based Heart FC  defender, Usman Abass who shone like a neon light in the dark under the  floodlight of the Cairo Police Sports Stadium.

    “Generally,all the players did well because  winning or losing, is a team effort and our objective has always been to play collectively as a team,” said Amuneke, one of the stars of Nigeria’ s golden era of the 1990s that won the 1994 African Cup of Nations and Africa’s first Olympic soccer Gold medal at Atlanta’96.” Frankly, I’m really impressed with Abass because he did so well despite the fact that this was his first match for us.

    “Samuel (Chukwueze), Halilu (Lukman) too are coming up but on the whole,I’ll pick Abass as our best player in the two matches in Cairo,” he stated.

    In the meantime,the Golden Eaglets started their routine training on Tuesday evening  at the University of Calabar even as Amuneke advised all to be focused on their upcoming African Championship match against Democratic Republic of Congo.

  • Amuneke fires-up Eaglets against Egypt

    Amuneke fires-up Eaglets against Egypt

    Emmanuel Amuneke, Golden Eaglets’ Head Coach, has told his players to gird their loins as they face their Egyptian counterparts in two-test matches slated for today and Sunday.

    The former Zamalek and  Barcelona winger  actually  stopped  the lads in the middle of a trek around  their  Sheraton Dreamland camp on Thursday  to remind them  about the importance of the task at hand.

    “You can see  how beautiful this place is but  you  have many more beautiful years ahead of you if only you can cease this opportunity by  being responsible  and ready to fight  for a place in the team.

    “I want you to give these two matches your best to prove again that you are good enough to be picked,” he said.

    The two matches would take place at 10pm local time (9:00pm in Nigeria) due to the on-going observance of the Ramadan by the Muslims but Amuneke said he was not disturbed by the arrangement.

    “We are expecting a tougher game because we saw their reaction (the Egyptians) after they lost the first game to us in Kaduna,” he stated matter-of-factly. “They were furious as such; we are expecting a much more difficult game on Friday (today).

    “We have also seen that they have progressively improved with the way they beat Sudan home and away in their last African U-17 Championship qualifiers but we would be ready to present them with a tough opposition,” he noted.

    He enthused  further that his  players would not be caught napping under floodlight  following their  experience at the  WAFU B Under-17 Tournament, adding that  the Ramadan  would have no adverse effect on the matches.

    “What we have been doing all this while is to prepare our boys mentally ready to play under any situation because we actually played and won our first match in Togo under floodlight,” he stressed. “Most of our players are used to playing during Ramadan and the same goes to the Egyptians, so I don’t think it would affect us.”

  • I’m not impressed by victories over Egypt— Amuneke

    I’m not impressed by victories over Egypt— Amuneke

    Golden Eaglets’ coach Emmanuel Amuneke (MON) has said he is not satisfied with the team’s overall performance despite the double victory over Junior Pharaohs of Egypt.

    The 1994 Nations Cup winner has promised to ring further changes as the team continue to build up towards the CAN 2015 qualifiers in July.

    “Yes, we won but I’m not too impressed,” said Amuneke.

    “But the most important thing is that we have been able to see the players against a very good Egyptian team.

    “We would continue to work hard and we still have more players that we would give opportunity to in the days ahead,” he noted.

  • Amuneke expects Mali’s fight back

    Amuneke expects Mali’s fight back

    • Allays injury worries

    Golden Eaglets’ Head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has warned his wards to be wary of Mali when they meet for the second time in as many days at the WAFU B Under-17 Tournament in Togo today at the Stade Municipal.

    Nigeria and Mali were left in Group B following the withdrawal of Niger from the tournament and today’s match slated for 3:00pm local time ( 4:00pm Nigerian time) would determine who tops the group. Golden Eaglets had already recorded 2-0 win on Monday and would need at least draw to secure their position of the group with a chance of meeting Group A’s runner-up in the semi-final on Friday.

    “The game on Monday gave us better ideas about the Malians and I must confess, they are a very good side,” Amuneke said after Eaglets’ training session on Tuesday.

    “We had thought the Malians were going to parade big players like they did when we played them during the qualifiers for the 2013 CAN Championship in Morocco but I’m quite impressed with the young boys they brought here.”

    The former African Footballer of the Year said his desire at the tournament was to win all his matches and has therefore warned his boys to expect fight back from the Malians.

    He said: “Of course, the game on Wednesday (today) would be a total different one because the Malians would want to avenge their defeat but what we just have to consolidate on our position.”

    Meanwhile, Amuneke has allayed fears over any injury in the team after some players suffered cramp in Monday’s game, adding that all the 18 players would be available for selection.

    “Having such pains is normal and we should not forget that we have prepared these boys under two weeks for the competition but we just finished training and every one of them is ready,” he revealed.

    “Again, this competition has given the players the opportunity to know what is demanded at this level and by the grace of God; they would be at their best against Mali on Wednesday.”

  • Eaglets for Togo tourney

    Eaglets for Togo tourney

    THe Nigeria Under 17 team under new coach Emmanuel Amuneke are expected to feature in an invitational tournament in Togo next month.

    MTNFootball.com specially gathered that the Eagles are due to soon begin a training camp in Abuja ahead of this tournament.

    In the meantime, coach Amuneke has commenced work to build a formidable Golden Eaglets after the team won a record fourth World Cup in November.

    The former Barcelona forward was in Jos last week to screen players from various academies in the North central state.

    MTNFootball.com understands that the former African Footballer of the Year was satisfied with the exercise as he was able to pick 32 players in three days.

    “Eaglets’ Coach Emmanuel Amuneke was in Jos to screen players who will get a chance in the new U-17 national team. He was here in Jos from Friday till Sunday and picked 32 players from 15 academies in the state. He was happy with what he saw as almost 1000 players were involved in the exercise,” a source told MTNFootball.com.

    Jos is known for producing stars for the country’s age-group teams like Sambo Choji, Ezekiel Bala, Ben Akwuegbu, Justice Christopher, Ogenyi Onazi, Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa and Michael Olaitan.

    Amuneke was also in Kaduna for the same exercise.

  • NFF name U-17, U20 coaches Wednesday

    NFF name U-17, U20 coaches Wednesday

    Nigeria are to announce new coaches for their U17 and U20 teams on Wednesday after the NFF technical committee meet in Abuja.

    Manu Garba who led Nigeria to win a record fourth FIFA U17 World Cup is widely expected to be promoted to head the U20 team after coach John Obuh “stepped aside” in July.

    It is however left to be seen who will replace him in the Nigeria U17 team.

    His first assistant, Emmanuel Amuneke, was favoured for the top post, but lately second assistant coach Nduka Ugbade has gained ground to lead the U17s.

    Officials have argued they wish for continuity and so the need to stick with the U17 coaches.

    Both the Golden Eaglets and the Flying Eagles will begin their qualifying campaigns for continental glory later this year.