“Force them to play nonsense” is a common parlance in Nigerian football and Golden Eaglets coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, said he adopted that style in the 5-1 win over Chile.
Nigeria advanced into the round of 16 of the FIFA U-17 World Cup and Amuneke said his players made the hosts uncomfortable in the midfield and forced them out of their style.
“It is true we were effective up front, but we also knew how to block their passing game, forcing them to play uncomfortably in the midfield,” he said.
“My players understood the transition game that is when to attack when to defend.
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“We also prepared them mentally; it is not easy to play against the host. Chile has a good team, but today they lost against the best team. I believe they can qualify for the next round.”
However, Chile coach, Miguel Ponce, said his side lost because they could not score from the chances they created.
“I told the kids: Nigeria respected us more than the result shows. They took measures to avoid us playing quickly, they knew to wait for us and scored after patient plays, they did not keep us in our goal for the whole game,” he said.
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“It is true there were physical differences, especially when it came to speed, but it is also true we were not able to finish off the situations we created. Against a good team, they don’t forgive you.”
Nigeria play Croatia in their last group game on Friday by 12 midnight Nigerian time while hosts Chile may now need to win their final group game against the USA to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.
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