Assistant coach of Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets Jolomi Atume says his side will treat Wednesday’s game against Angola at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations (U17AFCON) in Dar es Salam like a Cup final.
Nigeria and Angola have three points apiece after winning their opening Group A games on Sunday against hosts Tanzania and Uganda respectively. While the two-time champions Nigeria edged a nine-goal thriller against Tanzania 5-4, Angola produced a strong defensive showing to beat Uganda 1-0.
A win for any of the two sides will all but guarantee them a place in the semi-final of the competition and consequently a berth at the FIFA Under-17 World Championship later in the year.
“The game against Angola is like a Cup final for us because we know that winning this game will take us to Brazil, for the World Cup,” said Atume at the game’s pre-match press conference at the Tanzania Main National Stadium on Tuesday.
“We know the Angolan team are a very good side, good defensively and look solid in attack but by the grace of God, the three points will be ours. We know that our defence made several mistakes in the opening game against Tanzania which saw us concede four goals, but we are working on them to improve,” he added.
