Golden Eaglets coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has described Saturday’s 2-0 win over the United States of America as a morale booster for the players in the quest to successfully defend the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Chukwudi Agor and Victor Osimhen gave Nigeria a winning start courtesy of two second half goals against the Americans in Santiago, Chile.
Amuneke said after the game that he was satisfied with the display of his team.
“The victory today against the USA was important for us and I want to congratulate the boys for making Nigerians happy,” Amuneke told thenff.com
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“They (players) were tentative in the first 20 minutes and this was expected because it was the first time they were playing at a big stage such as the World Cup, but it was important we won the first game since it would boost our confidence going into the next game against host Chile; so we are happy but will continue to work harder.
“Today’s victory against the USA is for Nigerians especially for many who stayed up late to watch the match,” stated the former African Footballer of the Year who refrained from praising the goal scorers against USA.
“It is the job of all the players to do their respective jobs in the interest of the team. We want to play and win as a team and collectively, we want to work in order to achieve our overall objective at this tournament.”
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USA coach, Richie Williams, described the Golden Eaglets as “a good Nigerian team”.
“We are obviously disappointed because of the outcome. We played a good first half, we were balanced, solid and we even created some chance that we were not able to convert,” he told FIFA.com.
“Nigeria scored two quick goals, but thanks to unfortunate errors on our side. We were hoping to be more effective, but we lost against a good Nigerian team.”
The Golden Eaglets will, in the meantime, hit the road on Sunday for Vina del Mer where they will play host Chile at the 24,000 capacity Estadio Sausalito on Tuesday.
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