Scottish referee, Craig Thomson along his compatriots Derek Rose and Alan Mulvanny has been picked by FIFA as officials for the FIFA U-17 World Cup UAE 2013 Final Match between Nigeria and Mexico at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Thomson has been a match official since 1988 and has officiated in the Scottish Premier League since 2002.
The fourth official is Nober Hauata from Tahiti while Mark Rule of New Zealand would be the Reserve Assistant Referee.
Golden Eaglets in the meantime, would don the white jerseys while the El Tri would be on green. The match will kick off at 8:00 pm local time (5:00pm Nigerian time).
Meanwhile, striker Taiwo Awoniyi has identified teammate and captain, Musa Muhammed as one of the factors behind Golden Eaglets’ sterling performances.
Muhammed has been an inspired choice by coach Manu Garba ‘because he combines the names of two prophets’ and Awoniyi said there couldn’t have been a better captain than the Kano-born defender.
“Without any doubt, Musa Muhammed is my best player not because on and off the field, he is a leader,” Awoniyi said of Muhammed who has scored twice at this FIFA Under-17 World Cup UAE 2013.
In a survey conducted amongst the players, Awoniyi noted that Muhammed has perfectly played his role as captain well because of an innate humility which is second to none.
Cool, calm and collected, Muhammed has played more matches than any player in the Golden Eaglets and Awoniyi stated that Muhammed has impressed everyone because he makes no bone about it.
“Muhammed is a born leader,” Awoniyi said matter-of-factly.”You can hardly know that he is our captain because he doesn’t show it at all.
“On and off the pitch, Musa is a leader because he regards us as friends and teammates,” added Taiwo.
Taiwo’s view is equally shared by first choice goalkeeper, Sunday Alampasu who maintained that Muhammed exemplary conduct was worth emulating
“I will pick Skipper as our best player not only in this tournament but overall because he welcomes all of us with open arms when we came into camp,” said Alampasu.” Musa is a very good guy indeed and I wish every one of us can be like him.”
