Golden Eaglets’ handler, Emmanuel Amuneke, has assured Nigerians that Mali won’t be an obstacle to lifting the FIFA U-17 World Cup for a fifth record time in Chile.
The 1994 African Footballer of the year, at the post match conference, stated matter-of-factly that African U-17 champions, Mali, who came from behind to beat Belgium 3-1 in the other semi final match on Thursday, would be a tough nut to crack.
History will be made on Sunday with the second all-African FIFA U-17 World Cup final since 1993, when Nigeria beat Ghana 2-1 at Japan ’93.
Amuneke posited: “The Malians are the African champions and we have to respect them.
“Aside that, they have also had a great tournament here in Chile.
“But we are a team that finds a way to play and function, no matter the difficulty posed by the opposition.
“When Sunday comes, we are going to play Mali and I think it is going to be an interesting match, but we want to enjoy this moment because this was a great match against a very strong Mexican team.
“We thank God we are going to play the final again on Sunday and this gives us the opportunity to defend the trophy we won in 2013.”
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