The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have secured a ticket to the 2013 African Under-17 Championship following a 2-0 win over Mali on Sunday.
The self-styled New Nigerian Golden Eaglets consolidated on their 2-0 win a fortnight ago in Calabar, Cross River State with identical win after Isaac Success and Bernard Bulbwa grabbed the goals in the 23rd and 55th minutes respectively to qualify on 4-0 aggregate.
The victory means that the Golden Eaglets completed the series with a 100 per cent record, scoring 21 goals and conceding just one.
The goals against the Junior Eagles of Mali could have been more but Guinean referee, Ahmed Toure, disallowed an earlier goal in the 12th minute.
But the Eaglets responded well as they took command of the game.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the last two editions of the African Under-17 Championship hosted by Algeria and Rwanda but would be favourites when they returned to the continental cadet fiesta in Morocco after recording the best results in all the qualifiers.
The Golden Eaglets turned the Stade Mamadou Konate to a party ground as the Malian fans hailed the team’s extraordinary performance against the Junior Eagles.
Coach Manu Garba said the achievement of the team was not a mean feat, particularly in Sunday’s final round of qualifier against a strong Malian side.
“First and foremost we give God all the glory and we are dedicating this qualification ticket to all Nigerians,” said a visibly happy Garba, who incidentally assisted late Coach Yemi Tella when Nigeria won the 2007 continental cadet competition in Cotonou, as well as the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Korea. “We are proud of these boys who have endured so much to secure this ticket.”
With the ticket to Maroc 2013 ticket secured, Garba said the team would be beefed up in order to present a strong force at the tournament.
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