Ugbade pumps up Eaglets ahead final against Burkina Faso

Head Coach Nduka Ugbade has told his Nigeria U17 boys they still have grounds to conquer despite securing a ticket to the Africa U17 Cup of Nations taking place in Algeria next year. “We are going into the Final match, and we are up against Burkina Faso, a team that has won all its four […]

Head Coach Nduka Ugbade has told his Nigeria U17 boys they still have grounds to conquer despite securing a ticket to the Africa U17 Cup of Nations taking place in Algeria next year.

“We are going into the Final match, and we are up against Burkina Faso, a team that has won all its four matches in this competition.

“We have also won our three matches here but we must win the fourth and final one to clinch the trophy. Let us not allow Burkina Faso to play five matches and win all five matches.

“We must work assiduously to win all our four matches here to be the only undefeated team of the tournament,” Ugbade told the Golden Eaglets at a training session in Cape Coast on Wednesday.

Ugbade and the Eaglets have drawn rave reviews so far at the WAFU B U17 Championship, after scoring 10 goals in their three matches, while conceding only four, as left back Emmanuel Michael picked up the Man-of-the-Match award in each of the three games.

Deadball revelation Emmanuel Michael will be the cynosure of eyes at the Cape Coast Stadium this evening, having scored thrice from free-kicks for Nigeria in this tournament.

Nigeria and Burkina Faso have already qualified for the Africa U-17 Championship which Algeria will host next year, and from which Africa’s flag bearers to next year’s FIFA U17 World Cup in Peru will emerge.