Netherlands Head Coach Vander Veen Peter has revealed that his team relied on scout reports and stats analysis to overcome Nigeria in their round of 16 tie at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil.
The Oranje thrashed five-time champions, Golden Eaglets, 3-1 in Wednesday’s round of 16 game and Peter admits they had to carry out a thorough analysis of their opponents.
Peter also revealed they got a helping hand from a coach who was very familiar with Nigerian football.
“Before now, the Netherlands had only won a game before the Nigerian match, and it motivated us as a team to want to go higher.
“The secret that led to our victory was, we asked a coach in Holland that understood the Nigerian settings to do a complete analysis on each player in the Nigerian team, we made use of everything he sent to us and it worked out good for us.
“We made use of our sharp strikers for their defense, and it resulted positively. We respected the Nigerian team for being the five times world champions,” Peter explained.
Meanwhile, former Golden Eaglets Coach, Fanny Amun, has urged the NFF to give other coaches, besides Manu Garba and Nduka Ugbade, the opportunity to manage the team.
Manu Garba, who won the tournament in 2013, failed to qualify in 2017 and was knocked out of the tournament in the round of 16.
Reacting to the team’s exit after the 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands, Amun said that the NFF should return to the fundamental purpose of the competition and appoint coaches for developmental purposes.
The essence of participating in the competition is development; for the coaches and players,” Amun stressed. “It isn’t about winning. The FA should have a rethink about the appointment of coaches.
“They should look towards extending their tentacles to other coaches.”