SAI’D MAKES A STATEMENT, AND GOLDEN EAGLES SHOW SPIRIT, AGAIN

THREE FOR THE WIN! Hattrick hero Ibrahim Sai'd shows how many goals he scored

Hattrick hero Ibrahim Sai’d willl claim the lion share of the plaudits, but it was another gutsy, unyielding team performance that carried Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets over the line as they came from behind to stun Ecuador 3-2 and advance to the 2019 FIFA Under 17 World Cup quarterfinals.

Sai’d pounced on a goalkeeping error from Lopez to open the scoring after just five minutes. That was also how much time it took Ecuador to draw level, Mejia’s shot helped in off goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu’s back.

Mina despatched a dodgy penalty to put Ecuador in front nine minutes into the second half before the Golden Eaglets blitzed the last 10 minutes to claim a stupendous win and book their place in the knockout phase.

We have a few takeaways from the win

GUTS AND GLORY

It has been a wee while since Nigerians have seen a team so determined not to lay down and die.

For the second game in a row, the Eaglets came back from 2-1 down to win. As good as the scoreline was, what was even more remarkable was the spirit they showed.

Whether ahead or behind, the team played with guts and with fire in their bellies. They were simply determined not to lose. Not against Hungary on opening day, not against Ecuador on the night. And both teams looked both tactically and technically superior.

But the Nigerians showed more heart, more spirit and certainly more lungs. Even at the end, they were still swarming all over Ecuador and were it not for poor finishing, they would surely have run up the score.

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ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK

Nigerians have been weaned on attacking football. The great Green Eagles team which won the Africa Cup of Nations were loaded with attacking talent and played with expansive verve.

The 1994 team wrote themselves into folklore in much the same way. And the best of Nigeria’s cadet teams - including all previous five Under 17 championship winning teams - all played in much the same way.

This side are not nearly as talented as their predecessors, and there are quite a few holes to be picked in their game, but they do a good job of covering these holes with their unrelenting forward blitz.

The good news is they create a boatload of chances. The bad news is they need barn doors in front of them.

Akinwunmi Amos is a wrecking ball, captain Samson Tijani is a offensive controller and Said just showed how lethal he can be from range. Not to mention Wisdom Ubani and his set piece expertise.

There will be goals with this team, the trouble is. . .

DEFENSIVE WEAKNESSES

There are weaknesses all over the team, and it starts well before the ball gets to defense. Against Ecuador, as in against Hungary, the biggest problem was before the ball got to defense. 

Players, especially in midfield, were in some sort of mad hurry to play balls. And for all of Garba’s emphasis on passing football, sometimes, players’ decision to go alone turned out ill-advised. All of this led to more than their fair share of turnovers. 

But the worst part was the after. Manu Garba needs to drill some basic idea of timing into his players until it becomes muscle memory. The amount of seemingly aimless running and mistimed tackles were simply insane.

It led to goals against Hungary and again against Ecuador.

A more tactically disciplined side would leather these lads if allowed such freedom of the shop.

Hopefully, they plug the holes sooner rather than later.

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QUICK TAKEOUTS FROM GOLDEN EAGLETS WIN OVER HUNGARY

Golden Eaglets lineup ahead of their opening game against Hungary

Heart and guts overcame an error-ridden performance by Nigeria, as the Golden Eaglets opened their FIFA Under 17 World Cup campaign with a come from behind win over Hungary on Saturday night.

Hungary poked the tiger within three minutes of the opening, their early pressure forcing Nigeria on the backfoot and Gyorgy Komaromi found himself in good position to draw first blood after just three minutes.

Captain Samson Tijani drew the Golden Eaglets level from the sport after Wisdom Ubani’s nifty footwork got him into the box only to be clipped. Samuel Major took advantage of further sloppy defending by Nigeria to restore Hungary’s advantage as they went into the break on top. 

But three late goals, two of those in the span of a minute, took Nigeria to victory.

Here are a few thoughts from the game

EAGLES AND EARLY PRESSURE DON’T MIX

It was obvious that Hungary had watched tapes of the Nigeria team ahead of the game, and looked to exploit the weaknesses early. They peppered the fullback positions and scored both their goals from high, early pressure that the Nigerians found difficult to deal with.

Although they failed to keep up the momentum, bombarded as they were any Nigeria’s physical superiority and skill, their technical ability meant they did not have to overly exert themselves in a first half where they allowed the Eaglets to do all the running while they simply sat back and picked them off almost at will.

This is by no means the most talented squad Manu Garba has put together in his time as a youth coach, so there will be lot more work needed to help them along the way, That means studying film of the opposition ahead of and fixing his own team’s weaknesses.

One of those is dealing with the press. They did not handle it well against Hungary and need to work on it going forward.

PLENTY OF HEART TO GO AROUND THESE EAGLETS 

To watch the first few minutes of the game, it looked like this iteration of Golden Eaglets were among the most disjointed ever.

Their passes continually went astray, touches looked heavy and the players appeared to be in a constant hurry to get nowhere fast. The calmness of the position made their haste even more glaring.

But the one thing the young men had more than enough of and then some, was heart. Even when they went down twice, their heads did not drop. They played with fire and the boisterousness of their youth. And even at the end, still had plenty of running in them as they overwhelmed Hungary by sheer force of character.

Heart and lungs are great traits to have, especially in the group phase. But they will need more than that if they are to go all the way.

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TIJANI IS A GEM, AMOO TOO

There was a lot that went wrong with the Golden Eagles on the night, and that includes players who did not pull their weight.

And the less said about the walkabout defense th ebetter.

But none of that could be said about man of the match and captain Samson Tijani. In the midst of the blundering chaos, he was the one calming influence. Everything the Nigerians played went through him, and it was when he had the ball that the team looked even slightly composed.

His two goals were just reward for the effort he put in.

And then there was Akinwunmi Amoo. It is uncertain why Garba decided to start him from the bench. It could have been for tactical reasons. But when he came on, he showed that he belongs on the starting eleven.

It is hard to see him starting on the bench now after coming on and totally changing the complexion of the Nigeria team.

Eaglets play without support

Rafiu Ladipo, President-General, Nigeria Football Supporters Club

There were only 4 Nigerians at the stadium on Tuesday night when Nigeria's Golden Eaglets took on and obliterated hosts Chile 5-1 at the 2015 FIFA Under 17 World Cup.

Of the four, three were reporters from the state-owned Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) led by Abdulrahman Ibn Mohammed.

Conspicuous by their absence are the Nigeria Football Supporters club led by their President-General, Rafiu Ladipo.

The group, usually ever present whenever Nigerian national teams play, have not made it to Chile.

Ladipo says funding is the major reason

"It's a shame that we are not there, but it's because we have been unable to raise money to travel to Chile," he told colinudoh.com ahead of the Golden Eaglets final group game against Croatia.

"Nobody has come out to support us with sponsorship."

Ladipo went on to outline the challenges involved in financing support for the national teams

"It is not easy getting money for all these trips. Most times, I use money from my personal business to fund these trips, but people don't know.

"Other times, I use my personal relationship with people like Mike Adenuga to get sponsorship."

Ladipo's next statement suggested that all is not well with the body

"For our trip to Brazil for the World Cup, we raised money from Glo, some from the Federal Government and others, and I also added some of my own personal money. But some people came back and said I ate their money.

"Now, I haven't raised any money and there is nobody in Chile."

He did promise to get some of the group to Chile, but one one condition

"If the boys can get to the semifinals, I will arrange for a few of us to go there and support them. Right now, I'm making arrangements for about 10 to 15 people to go to Burkina Faso to support the CHAN team."

As for the Golden Eaglets, they will have to play without fans. Again.