FIFA U-17 World Champions: Golden Road to Victory for Nigeria

The Golden Eaglets were crowned the World U-17 Champions for the fourth time last night, outmuscling their Mexican opponents 3-0 in the final. Kelechi Iheanacho and his cohorts put on a mesmeric performance and dazzled the crowd with their co-ordination, determination and finesse. An own goal from Aguirre set the ball rolling before the Mexican keeper parried captain, Musa Muhammed’s shot onto the path of Iheanacho to tap in Eaglets’ second and his sixth of the competition. Musa Mohammed grabbed the third with a sublime free kick from the edge of the arc. This recent feat by the Eaglets follows the success of the Siasias in the 1985 maiden edition of the World U-17 Championships in China, the Kanus and Orumas in Japan 1993, and the Alfas and Chrisantus in Korea 2007. Nigeria has also finished runners-up on three occasions; Canada ’87, Trinidad and Tobago ’01 and Nigeria ’09 where they lost in the final to the Soviet Union, France and Switzerland respectively. ROAD TO SUCCESS First Round: Nigeria 6 (Iheanacho (4), Nwakali, Success) vs Mexico 1 Nigeria 3 (Success, Yahaya, Awoniyi) vs Sweden 3 Nigeria 5 (Muhammed, Yahaya (2), Nwakali, Obasi) vs Iraq 0 Golden Eaglets topped their Group (F) on seven points with two wins and a draw, followed by Mexico and Sweden who finished on six and four points respectively. Second Round: Nigeria 4 (Okon, Muhammed, Iheanacho, Yahaya) vs Iran 1 Quarter Final: Nigeria 2 (Awoniyi (2)) vs Uruguay 0 Semi Final: Nigeria 3 (Awoniyi, Okon, Ezeh) vs Sweden 0 Final : Nigeria 3 (Aguirre OG, Iheanacho, Muhammed) vs Mexico   Golden Eaglets played seven games in the tournament, won six, drew one and lost none, scoring 26 goals and conceding just five en route to victory, averaging 3.7 goals per game. Eaglets had 74 shots on target, 64 off target, were caught offside 12 times, suffered 77 fouls, conceded 70 fouls, and won 29 corner kicks. Kelechi Iheanacho topped the goal scorers’ list for Nigeria with six goals and seven assists, which was enough for him to win FIFA’s Golden Ball and Silver Boot for his outstanding display. Goal keeper, Dele Alampasu won the FIFA Golden Glove and the team won the FIFA Fair Play Award for the finishing the competition with just six yellows, with Akinjide Idowu getting a third of the cards, and no red card. TOP SCORERS: Kelechi Iheanacho – 6 goals Taiwo Awoniyi – 4 goals Musa Yahaya – 4 goals TOP ASSISTS: Kelechi Iheanacho: 7 assists Taiwo Awoniyi: 5 assists Chidera Ezeh/Issac Success: 2 assists   Golden Eaglets’ toughest opponents were the Swedes in their second group game. The Swedes went into the break with a two-goal cushion but the Golden Eagles were a rejuvenated side in the second half, with the game ending in a 3-all draw.   PROSPECTS TO WATCH: KELECHI IHEANACHO: The playmaker cum attacker dazzled the crowd with his skill, scored 6 goals and set up a further seven for his teammates. He deservedly won the FIFA Golden Ball and Silver Ball at the awards ceremony. TAIWO AWONIYI: The striker cut an isolated figure up front in the final, scored 4 goals in the competition and assisted 5. MUSA YAHAYA: The winger shone at the competition scoring 4 goals and setting up one. MUSA MOHAMMED: The captain of the side. The right back ran the wings with guile and dexterity, capped off his performance with a tremendous free kick in the final. He scored a total of two goals and assisted one in the competition.   ROLL CALL: 1 GK Dele Alampasu 2 DF Musa Mohammed 3 DF Samuel Okon 4 MF Akinjide Idowu 5 DF Denis Nyaa 6 DF Aliyu Abubakar 7 MF Habib Makanjuola 8 MF Abdullahi Alfa 9 FW Issac Success 10 FW Kelechi Iheanacho 11 MF Musa Yahaya 12 MF Chidera Obasi 13 MF Saviour Godwin 14 MF Chidiebere Nwakali 15 DF Raymond Japhet 16 GK Abdulazeez Abubakar 17 FW Chidera Ezeh 18 FW Taiwo Awoniyi 19 DF Zaharadden Bello 20 MF Baba Salihu 21 GK Francis Uzoho Head Coach: Manu Garba