The Golden Eaglets on Friday continued their superb form en route to the 10th CAN Under-17 Championship by beating Qatar Star League side, Al Sadd of Doha, at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, otherwise known as the Old Trafford, courtesy of a goal by Ifeanyi Matthew.
Unlike their previous friendly matches, the stake was higher against Al-Sadd, which paraded legendary Spanish star, Raul Gonzalez.
But the Nigerian budding stars did not give the former Real Madrid captain any breathing space.
Rather, it was the young Nigerian boys that dominated the game and were unlucky not to have scored on at least two good occasions.
Striker Alhassan Ibrahim nearly scored with the last kick of the first half with only the opposing goalkeeper to beat but his shot shockingly hit the side net.
The second half was fast and furious, with the Golden Eaglets enjoying more of the possession but they failed to convert some glaring chances.
Matthew, who missed a penalty kick in the 60th minute, redeemed himself when he scored the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute, after collecting a pocket pass from new entrant, Taiwo Awoniyi.
Coach Manu Garba described the performance of the players as inch-perfect, judging by the calibre of team his wards played against:
Manu said: “It was a good performance from the boys today and without any doubt, one of our best games since we assembled these players last year.”
Meanwhile, the players have dedicated Friday’s victory to Tayo Egbaiyelo of the Nigeria Football Federation, who is the Team Secretary.
Egbaiyelo’s birthday coincided with Friday’s match.
The players noted that Dazzler, as Egbaiyelo is fondly called, is their father figure hence the affection.
“Today is special to us for so many reasons,” defender Izu Omego said. “This is apart from the fact that we beat Al-Sadd, which is a major boost towards our preparation for the Under-17 Championship.
“This is a victory for our team secretary who has been so nice to all of us.
“He, along with other officials, have helped us but today’s victory is for him.”
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