By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria will on Sunday April 30 battle Zambia in the 2023 Africa U17 Cup of Nations in the Algerian city of Constantine.
Nigeria, five-time world champions, flew into Constantine on Tuesday night, after MRI tests conducted on the 26 players in Algiers following their arrival in the North African country from Egypt.
The West African football powerhouse had won the tournament two times and have won the world titles in 1985 (China), 1993 (Japan), 2007 (Korea Republic), 2013 (United Arab Emirates) and 2015 (Chile).
Pre-match Conference
Speaking during a pre-match conference on Saturday ahead of the competition’s opening game at the Stade Chahid Hamlaoui in Constantine, Nigeria’s Head Coach, Nduka Ugbade, admitted that his boys have much work on their hands, but are determined to work extra hard and make high statement.
Ugbade who is a former FIFA Cadet World Cup-winning captain said, “We are under pressure. We know that every team wants to beat Nigeria. I am not so much interested in the trophy as in the development of the players, and the beauty of the game.
“These are young players. You can never say after all your preparations what comes next because you are playing technically, you are also playing tactically and also have to consider the psychological discipline of the players. We want the players to be disciplined to go for 90 minutes to emerge victorious.
“To achieve this, we want to do everything humanly possible within the context of our strength and capacity to see that every team that comes against us is subdued.”
How Eaglets fared previously
The Confederation of African Football launched the U17 event as a tournament in Mali in 1995, with the Golden Eaglets finishing behind rivals Black Starlets of Ghana.
The Eaglets did not qualify for the 1997 finals, and lost out in the group phase in Guinea in 1999.
Nigeria were champions of the 4th CAF U17 Tournament in Seychelles in 2001, easily defeating Burkina Faso 3-0 in Victoria.
The Golden Eaglets won again in Togo in 2015, and went on to win the FIFA World Cup in Korea Republic.
Nigeria won the Africa U17 Cup of Nations in 2001 and 2007, the same number of times as Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and The Gambia. Cameroon and Mali, alongside Burkina Faso (one-time winners) and South Sudan will battle it out in Group C. Hosts Algeria, Senegal, Congo and Somalia will duel in Group A.
Other previous winners of the competition are Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire, who are not in Algeria.
Nigeria has also finished as runners-up on two other occasions, won the bronze medals once and finished in fourth place twice, one of which was in 2015, when they went ahead to win the FIFA World Cup in Chile.
The last time the Golden Eaglets met Zambia at this level was in 2015 in Niger Republic, when Nigeria triumphed 3-1 in Niamey with two of the goals from Victor Osimhen, who would go on to become the record goalscorer at the FIFA U17 World Cup (with 10 goals) as Nigeria won a fifth global title in Chile later that year.
Interestingly, Zambia’s goal was scored by Patson Daka, who would go on to dazzle at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations hosted and won by his country two years later.
Group pairings
For this 14th edition of the Africa U17 Cup of Nations, the Eaglets will also play Morocco and South Africa in Group B.
Hosts Algeria will tackle Senegal, Congo and Somalia in Group A, while Cameroon duel with Mali, Burkina Faso and South Sudan in Group C.
The four top-placed teams at the end of the tournament will fly Africa’s flag at this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup.
