Victorious Golden Eaglets’ Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has revealed the secret behind Nigeria’s heroic feat at the just ended FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.
An elated Amuneke at the post match conference said: “We have worked very hard for this success and we hope to continue.
“The players will go home now but their journey is not over yet.
“Personally I’m really happy.
“I have football in my blood, as a player and as a coach.
“This is what I want to pass to my players.
“It was a beautiful and entertaining match.
“I think the people in the stadium enjoyed it today.
“We knew that Mali are technically very strong, have great individual players and are very fast.
“We wanted to make no mistakes but we lost the ball many times in the midfield in the first half.
“But I don’t want to complain because they are all kids.
“We changed some things in the second half and made some substitutes.
“That brought us more safety in our game.
“We are thankful for everything.
“We wanted to bring the players to their dreams and we did it.
“Thanks for the support.
“We feel like we are at home.”
His Malian counterpart, Baye Ba, however lamented his wards’ errors and lack of organisation while the tie lasted.
Ba said: “It was a tough match.
“Nigeria was well-placed and we often acted very unorganised.
“We didn’t pay attention twice and conceded two goals.
“It is how it is.
“One team wins because the other team makes mistakes.
“It is the first time Mali reached the final.
“If you believe that you can win a game, then you are sad when you lose.
“Nevertheless, we can be very proud.
“Not many teams reach the second place.
“Our goal is to have a senior team who can win.
“We will continue our work.
“Everything is installed in our youth programmes so that we will reach another final in the future.”