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| Golden Eaglets. Photo Credit: Premium Times |
The Nigeria U17
team, the Golden Eaglets, have successfully defended their FIFA U17
World Cup title after recording a 2-0 victory over their West African
foes, Mali, in the early hours of Monday.
After a largely
even first half contest in which Nigeria missed a penalty inside the
first four minutes, Golden Eaglets gangling striker, Victor Osimhen,
broke the deadlock in the 56th minute; and three minutes later Nigeria
were two goals up as Funsho Bamgboye increased the tally.
The sumptuous goal
by Osimhen was his 10th goal of the tournament which makes him the
record holder of the most goals scored by an individual at one single
FIFA U17 World Cup tournament.
The Golden Eaglets
before the Mali clash had recorded good results at the Estadio Sausalito
in Vina del Mar where they crushed Chile 5-1 in their second group
phase match, annihilated Australia 6-0 in the second round, and battered
Brazil 3-0 in the quarter final. The venue proved a
lucky ground as Nigeria triumphed over Mali albeit after early scares.
The successful defence recorded by Nigeria makes them only the second
country after Brazil to record back-to-back wins in the cadet World Cup.
Before this latest
addition to their accolades, the Golden Eaglets' previous four titles
came when they defeated then West Germany, 2-0, in the inaugural final
in Beijing in 1985; overran West African rivals, Ghana, 2-1 in 1993 in
Tokyo, Japan; outshot Mexico on penalties in Seoul in 2007 and thrashed
Mexico 3-0 in the last Championship match in Abu Dhabi.The victorious
Eaglets will be hoping for a warm embrace from President Buhari who was
in charge when Nigeria won the first edition of FIFA U16 World Cup in
China.
It was the then General that christened the U17 team, Golden Eaglets
-Premium Times
Nigerians must be really proud of them especially, President Buhari that named the team.
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