The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria will today take on Brazil for a place in the semi finals of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup tournament in Chile.
The match starts at 8pm Nigerian time at the now familiar Estadio Sausalito in Vina del Mar (Nigeria pounded host Chile 5-1 and Australia 6-0).
Brazil edged past a brave New Zealand side in Vina del Mar and needed a stoppage time penalty kick to win 1-0 and advance to this stage.
Nigeria had defeated Brazil 2-1 at the four Nations Suwon Continental Cup in South Korea in August.
But Brazil went on to win the cup by beating South Korea 2-0.
The Golden Eaglets drew 1-1 with the host nation, beat Brazil 2-1 before succumbing 3-2 to Croatia to win the bronze.
Nigeria is seeking its fifth attempt to win the trophy at the U-17 World Cup having won it four times in the past.
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick, has charged the team to focus on winning the trophy.
Said he: “The NFF is happy with the progress the team has been making, but I want them to focus hard on the challenges ahead and know that the trophy is the ultimate.
“They are so close to glory but they must be focused and have strong mental attitude on the field of play.”
“They have been doing the nation proud. The victories over United States, host Chile and Australia were well-deserved, because they toiled and invented and never let up, even when leading the opposition.
“Even when they lost to Croatia, they played with their hearts. The NFF is very proud of Coach Emmanuel Amuneke and the players.”
Amuneke reiterated that the team is not under pressure and promised that the team would do its best to win the cup.
His words: “The match against Australia was a very interesting match.
“We knew that Australia was a good team because they qualified from a very difficult group, but my players were able to recuperate from the loss against Croatia and regained their level.
“Victor Osimhen had a great game, although the philosophy of this team is to play collectively. We are candidates to win the title, but so are Brazil. We will work to put up a good fight.”
Nigeria won the maiden edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1985 in China, the 1985 edition sponsored by Kodak (when it was known as the U-16 tournament), 1993, 2007 and 2013; making it the first team to win it four times.
Nigerian also won the African Under-17 Championship in 2001 and 2007, and was runner up in 1995.
After the 2007 victory there was discussion as to whether the success should be rewarded in the form of cash, or if longer-term investments were more suitable for teenage players.
It was pointed out that some previous players had found themselves reduced to poverty due to injury or mismanagement of their funds.
Heading into the 2009 U-17 World Cup, Head Coach Henry Nwosu was replaced by John Obuh, coach of Kwara United.
In 2011, planning was thrown into disarray in August when over half the team was determined by bone scanning to be over aged and excluded from the team.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2011 edition but participated again in 2013.
In its first match, the team defeated defending champions Mexico 6-1. It failed to defeat Sweden in the group stage, but did so in the semi final.
In the final match, Nigeria defeated Mexico for a second time, and became the first country to win the U-17 World Cup four times.
