Golden Eaglets would begin their quest for honour at the WAFU B Under-17 Tourna ment against Niger at the Stade Municipal in Lome on Saturday.
The match which is fixed at 5:30 pm local time (6:30pm Nigerian time) is a repeat of the fixture between the two countries in the qualifiers for the 2013 CAN Under-17 tournament in Morocco which Nigeria won with a flattering 10-1 aggregate score line.
It is against this backdrop that Coach Emmanuel Amuneke has charged his wards against underrating the Nigerien who would be desirous to avenge their last defeat.
Speaking to the players before lunch, Amuneke said that the present crop of players must strive to emulate their predecessors who went all the way to win the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year.
“Don’t forget that nobody is going to dash us anything as such we must take each match seriously,” said Amuneke. “Our first game against Niger as expected would determine how well we are going to do in this competition as such; we must put up our very best against them.”
Amuneke, who later took his boys to have a feel of the stadium after rain, noted that each match at the tournament is an opportunity for the players to show that they can also get the job done.
All the 18 players registered for the tournament took part in the training session and are seemingly psychologically ready for the game with no injury worries.
In a related development, the Golden Eaglets were hosted at the Nigeria’s High Commission by Ambassador Matthew Sunday Adoli who advised the team to be of good conduct throughout their stay in Togo, adding that they should do their best and make Nigerians near and far happy at the end of the tournament.