The national Under-17 team and World champions, the Golden Eaglets, is on the march for glory and honour again as the 11th African Under-17 Championship gets underway in Niamey, Niger.
The championship is billed to hold from Sunday, February 15, to Sunday, March 1, with the eight participating teams divided into two groups.
Nigeria, Guinea, Zambia and the host, Niger, are in Group A, while defending champions, Cote d’Ivoire, will slug it out in Group B along with South Africa, Mali and Cameroon who incidentally was not at the last edition in Morocco in 2013.
The semi-finalists are guaranteed a ticket to the 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in Chile between October 17 and November 8, 2015.
The Golden Eaglets will battle Niger Republic in the tournament opener on Sunday, February 15, at the General Seyni Kountche Stadium in Niamey, while Guinea and Zambia will clash in the other Group A match later in the day at the same venue.
The Eaglets’ next match will be against the Guineans at the same General Seyni Kountche Stadium before their last match against the Zambians at the Municipal Stadium, which has artificial turf.
Reigning champions, the Young Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, will face the Amajimbos of South Africa in the opening match of Group B on Monday, February 16, at the Municipal Stadium in Niamey, while Mali engages Cameroon later at the same venue.
Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Mali and Cameroon make up Group B to be based at the Municipal Stadium also in Niamey.
Head coach of the Golden Eaglets, Emmanuel Ammuneke, has assured Nigerians, especially football followers, that the team will not disappoint the country.
The former international stated that his team is focused on securing a ticket to the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.
He said: “I think it is a fair grouping, not minding the fact that we are going to face the host country.
“We are not going to underrate any of the teams and, as I said before, our sole objective in Niger is to qualify for the World Cup and after that, we can begin to talk about other things.”
Indeed, the Golden Eaglets players have their work cut out since they are going to do battle with the hosts who their illustrious predecessors the Eaglets white-washed 10-1 on aggregate in the qualifiers for Morocco 2013, where they finished second and secured a ticket to the FIFA World Cup at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – and eventually earned Nigeria a record fourth title.
“We are aware of the task ahead of us, and what happened between the Golden Eaglets and Niger the last time is immaterial now.
“Our boys have to go out there and show that this set of Golden Eaglets is good in their own right, and we must first secure a ticket to the World Cup,” the 1994 African Footballer of the Year said.
Though Zambia and Guinea are making a return to the competition after a break since they failed to qualify the last time in Morocco, Amuneke said they won’t be treated with kid gloves.
“Zambia and Guinea showed they are strong sides during the qualifiers; so we are going to take all our matches seriously.”