Head Coach Nduka Ugbade has told his Nigeria U17 boys they still have grounds to conquer despite securing a ticket to the Africa U17 Cup of Nations taking place in Algeria next year.
According to him, he said “We are going into the final match, and we are up against Burkina Faso, a team that has won all its four matches in this competition.
“We have also won our three matches here but we must win the fourth and final one to clinch the trophy. Let us not allow Burkina Faso to play five matches and win all five matches.
“We must work assiduously to win all our four matches here to be the only undefeated team of the tournament,” Ugbade told the players ahead of today’s final. Nigeria and Burkina Faso match.
Victory today will mean Nigeria has swept the stakes in youth football in the seven-nation WAFU B within one month, with the U20 Boys (Flying Eagles) having won the WAFU B U20 Championship in the Niger Republic just last month.
Ugbade and the Eaglets have drawn rave reviews so far at the WAFU B U17 Championship, after scoring 10 goals in their three matches, while conceding only four, as left-back Emmanuel Michael picked up the Man of-the-Match award in each of the three games.
Nigeria striker Light Eke expects a tough game but believes in his side’s strength as he expressed confidence that it would come to the fore when they slug it out against the Young Etalons of Burkina Faso today.
“It is obviously going to be a tough match, we have been training hard, but we are prepared for the match.
“The strikers have been training on many things that we are going to use during the match, like combats, combination passes, shooting drills, and other things.
“But the most important thing is for us to play as a team. We have been waiting for this right time, and we know we are going to win this and be champions,” Eke told Elegbete TV.