Players, coaches and officials of Nigeria’s cadet national team, Golden Eaglets have settled down at their pre-tournament base in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, ahead of the African U17 Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Sports247 reports that the Eaglets made the trip to Ouagadougou on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after they received a morale boosting promise that they will be ‘graciously rewarded’ if they take Nigeria back to its glory days at the FIFA U17 World Cup.
This serves as a huge source of motivation for Nigeria’s newest set of cadet talents to go all out for victory from their first match next week Wednesday against Niger Republic at the West Africa Football Union (WAFU)-B U17 Championship.
The promise was served by National Sports Commission (NSC) director-general, Honourable Bukola Olopade during a visit to the team’s final training session at FIFA Goal Project of Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
The sports administrator fondly called ‘DG’ made the pledge after watching the Eaglets in their last outing on the pitch ahead of their departure, as coach of the side, Eboboritse Uwejamomere put his wards through their final drills before heading to the Burkinabe capital.
Olopade also charged Eboboritse to ensure that his players excel at the sub-regional contest, which begins this weekend, as he pointed out that it is the first hurdle they have to cross on the long route to reach next year’s global cadet championship.
Olopade declared, “A great opportunity has been given to you all as young footballers to represent Nigeria at the under-17 national team level. It is, therefore, very important for you to do well and excel.
“The government and people of Nigeria want you to succeed at the WAFU-B U17 Championship, and I can assure you that you will be graciously rewarded at the end. The aim is to qualify for the U17 AFCON tournament and, thereafter, the FIFA U17 World Cup next year.
“I am very optimistic that this team will not disappoint Nigerians. So, play according to what you have learnt under the head coach, and I strongly believe that you will perform very well and qualify for the U17 AFCON.”
Sports247 reports further that, despite being five-time winners of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, including back-to-back wins at UAE 2013 and Chile 2015, Nigeria last qualified for the Cadet Mundial in 2019, when it was hosted by Brazil.
