Kanu’s goals two decades ago propelled Nigeria to their second title
of the U-17 competition and he believes the present squad have what it
takes to add a record fourth trophy.
The retired Nigerian player,
who went on to help Nigeria win a gold medal at the Atlanta ‘96 Olympic
Games, left Lagos on Thursday, to cheer the Eaglets to victory in Abu
Dhabi.
He said, “When I watched these boys in Calabar during the
African qualifiers, I said they were a team to watch out for but I don’t
think a lot of people agreed with me.
“But I knew what I was
saying. The boys are talented and know how to score goals. The only
problem the team had was in defence, which had been rectified by the
coaches.”
The Eaglets-Mexico match-up brings back memories of the
2001 edition in Trinidad & Tobago, when the Nigerian youngsters
beat France in the group stage but lost the final of the competition to
the same team.
Nigeria had hammered Mexico 6-1 in their Group F
opener in Al Ain last month but the Mexicans bounced back, beating the
likes of Brazil and Argentina, on the way to the final.
“This is a
different team. With a little bit of luck, they will surely triumph.
They need the support of all Nigerians,” Kanu said.
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/51621.html
No comments:
Post a Comment