fourth FIFA U-17 title with their head coach,
Manu Garba exhuding a burning confidence
that could make all other coaches in the
competition, especially his Group F opponents
in Al Ain City of UAE cringe with fear.
Garba, himself a product of FIFA U-20
competition in 1983, boasted in an interview
with fifa.com that his squad, made up of
mainly amatuer players from youth teams or
secondary schools, would be too hot for any
team in the competition as "they play total
football."
BATTLE READY …. Golden Eaglets
Speaking with the hind sight of his boys' 11-0
win over a Spanish club, Espanyol's youth
academy team during their preparation, Garba
told fifa.com that "I don't see any defence that
can stop us. We know a World Cup is a
different story, but, man, my attack is
blistering. They can destroy any team on their
day."
Explaining what he meant by Total Football,
the Eaglets coach who was assistant to late
Yemi Tella when they won the title in Korea in
2007 said, "I give my players a special
freedom, a freedom to express themselves.
When we have the ball, we all attack. When we
don't, we all defend.
Take a chance; go forward, another man will
cover you. All my players have the freedom to
go anywhere, and it's a responsibility they
understand."
According to Garba, the team, who have been
together for a long time with some being
dropped for failing the MRI test, are a young
side without any league experience but are
quick to learn and adapt to new ideas.
"They have no league experience. They are
amateurs, they play for local teams, or at their
secondary schools, but it is this youth that can
make them very adaptable to new ideas," he
said, however, adding that "It's not been an
easy philosophy to pass on to these young
boys."
Speaking on the strength of the team who lost,
against all predictions, to Cote d'Ivoire at the
African Championship in Morocco, Garba said
"We don't rely on just a few players to score or
lead. We have so many attacking options, we've
multiplied them.
We can hurt you from all over the pitch. We're
not just 11 individuals playing a game. My
players aren't just numbers on a chalkboard.
They are individuals with their own
personalities. I have faith in them."
On the expectation from their opening game
against Mexico today, the Gombe-born coach
said, "I like the way the Latin American teams
play, the way they ping the ball around, it's a
lot like Ghana, a lot like us, but we can beat
anyone."
To undo the Mexicans who are the
competition's defending champions, the
Eaglets' technical crew will be relying on the
scoring prowess of two players, Success Isaac
and Kelechi Iheanacho from who they recorded
12 of the 18 goals they scored in Morocco.
Isaac who was drafted from Megapp Academy
in Benin City scored seven of the goals while
Iheanacho netted in five. Both players have
been singled out by fifa as the two players
from the Nigerian squad fans, as well as their
opponents, should look out for when hostilities
begin in Group F.
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