Golden Eaglets’ Head Coach, Manu Garba (OON), has told youngsters undergoing screening at the NFF-FIFA Goal Project in Abuja that hard work and discipline were prerequisites to be part of the Nigeria U-17 team, the reigning champions of the world.
Scores of players have already been short-listed after weeks of a grueling exercise but Garba advised the players to be prayerful and work assiduously in the days ahead to earn a place in the team.
“This is just the starting point with your selection and you have to be prayerful because there are crucial stages ahead of you,” Garba said lads on Monday. “You have to pass the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Test to play at this level and having said that, you also have to be disciplined and be ready to work hard.”
The vastly experienced coach who was an assistant to the late coach Yemi Tella when Nigeria won the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea, and substantive coach when Nigeria grabbed a fourth title at the 2013 edition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said that he was ambitious as ever to conquer the world again, hence he won’t compromise standard.
“All of us here want result and it is by getting good results that we can stay longer on this job,” said Garba, who twice captained El-Kanemi Warriors to win the Nigerian Federation Cup in the 1990s. “There is no sentiment in this job and it is only what you do on the pitch that would determine your position in this team.”
He said that no favour should be asked as none would be given as selection would be on merit: “Don’t think anybody outside here can influence our decision and I want to advise that you tell your people to stop calling us. We want you to work very hard, listen to the instructions of the coaches and be prayerful because it is only God that knows what is good for all of us,” he noted.
