Chile 2015: Golden Eaglets depart Argentina for Chile

After rounding off their tour of Argentina on Monday with a convincing 3-1 win over the U-20 side of Racing Club of Buenos Aires, the Nigeria U-17 team – Golden Eaglets  on Tuesday depart for Santiago for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in Chile between October 17 and November 8.

According to a statement by the NFF, a squad of 21 players and 10 officials including NFF Assistant Director (Technical), Siji Lagunju will on Tuesday evening head to Santiago for the defense of the FIFA U-17 World Cup won for a record fourth time by Nigeria two years ago in the UAE.

Describing his team’s impressive performance as very encouraging, head coach Emmanuel Amuneke said the Pre-World Cup camping in Buenos Aires has added value to the team’s preparation ahead of Chile 2015 and that victories in their two friendly games against the Argentine U-17 (2-1) and U-20 side of Racing Club (3-1) has positively boosted the morale of the boys before their departure to Santiago.

“The most important thing is to see the players grow from strength to strength and I’m particularly pleased with their performance against Racing today.

“We are impressed because the Eaglets were able to implement all what we have been teaching them since we started.

“We are not getting carried away despite winning our two matches here but we are happy we have achieved part of our objectives of coming to Argentina but we are grateful for the opportunity to be here for our preparation; we have been struggling to adjust to the cold weather since it is colder in Chile.

“The World Cup is a different ball game because all the 24 teams have the chance to win but we are going to Chile with the objective of defending the trophy and we are looking forward to a good tournament.” Amuneke told thenff.com

The Golden Eaglets have been drawn against USA, Croatia and hosts, Chile in Group A.

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