U-17 World cup holders, Golden Eaglets of Nigeria, have arrived in Santiago, capital city of Chile as one of Africa’s four flag bearers at the 16th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals, which is to be hosted by Chile 2015 between October 17 and November 8.
Nigeria has won the competition a record four times with the last being two years ago in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The defending champions flew into Santiago from their pre-World Cup camp base in Buenos Aires at 8:20pm local time on Tuesday (which is early hours of yesterday in Nigeria (12:20 am), aboard a Lan Airlines flight.
Speaking to the media on arrival, Coach Emmanuel Amuneke and striker Victor Osimhen were upbeat about the chances of the Eaglets successfully defending the trophy.
“We are here to defend the trophy,” said Amuneke.”We are here with new players who want to write their own history and we are looking forward to our first game against the United States of America, which is very important for us.”
Osimhen echoed the sentiment of Coach Amuneke, adding that they have been psyched up for the expected challenges as the defending champions.
“We are here to win,” said Osimhen, who is Golden Eaglets’ top scorer with 39 goals in 71 cumulative international and local matches.
“Just as the coach said, we are here to write our own story as a team and
players.”
Immediately after dinner at their Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Santiago-Vitacura, where they are accommodated for their opening match against USA on October 17, Amuneke reminded his wards to focus attention on nothing but football as the team seeks a fifth U-17 world title.
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