25th April, 2013
Nigeria coach Manu Garba says he will seek to avenge the 1-0 loss against Cote d’Ivoire in Saturday’s CAF U-17 Championship final.
Cote d’Ivoire inflicted the Eaglets first-ever loss whether in a friendly or competitive game. Manu said his team were unlucky in the group game against their West African rivals.
“The final match against Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday is going to be a different ball game because we were unlucky when they beat us 1-0 in the group stage,” he said. “We are going to play a better game because we now know them better.”
The continental championship though remains the main target of the Golden Eaglets.
“We are very happy to qualify for the final because our aim was to come here and win this trophy and make Nigerians happy,” said forward Chidera Ezeh. We are happy to be in the final and as usual, we would be waiting for instructions from our coaches to play against Cote d’ Ivoire in the final.”
Tunisia coach Ben Soltane Abdelhay equally admitted that Wednesday’s semi-final was a difficult game for both teams, while admitting that the Nigerians were stronger and deserved their place in the final.
“It was a tough match for us because Nigeria were stronger physically,” he said.”The temperature affected us too but that is not taking anything away from Nigeria.”
Saturday’s final between Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire would be the first at this level, but it would be Nigeria’s fourth final appearance.
The Golden Eaglets conquered the continent twice in 2001 and 2007, but were unsuccessful in 1995.