2nd November, 2015
Photo: Getty Images
Football Fans in Calabar on Monday commended Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets for the Sunday night’s 3-0 thrashing of Brazil in the quarter-final match of the ongoing U-17 World Cup in Chile.
The fans gave the commendation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.
Oqua Etim, former Chairman of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) in Cross River, told NAN that the result proved that the Eaglets were worthy champions.
“It was a good performance as defending champions of the tournament.
“The boys played very well; and beating a country like Brazil with such a wide margin is a big morale booster for the team,’’ he said.
Etim advised the team to remain focused in their remaining games, saying that the team deserved to be in the final and possibly retain the cup.
“For now, they are playing as a team. There is a lot of teamwork and understanding in the team.
“However, the coaching crew should work on the defence. But on the whole, it was a good performance so far,” the former SWAN official said.
Michael Udeme, a football analyst, described the Eaglets’ victory against Brazil as vital to the team’s quest to win the cup for a record fifth time.
“The victory will send jitters into the spines of other teams in their remaining matches.
“The name Brazil alone is enough to scare any opponent and defeating them 3-0 is a no mean achievement,” Udeme said.
He said that the Eaglets played like true champions, and encouraged them to remain focussed.
“What the team needs now is a psychologist who will work on the state of their minds such that, rather than relaxing because they have defeated Brazil, they should go all out against their next opponents.
“I learnt that they are meeting either Ecuador or Mexico in the semi-final; none of these countries is a pushover in football.
“So, this is the time for them to really come out smoking if they want to win the Cup; because it is not yet over, until it is over,” he said.
Monday Simon, a student, said that he was apprehensive before the game began, but became excited when the Eaglets started scoring.
“The team is good, they did very well against Brazil and I am very excited.
“I urge them to continue in the same way against other opponents in the semi-final, and go ahead to play in the final and win the Cup,’’ he said.