Golden Eaglets Head Coach, Emmanuel
Amuneke is upbeat about his team's chances to defend their FIFA U-17
World Cup despite being drawn against host Chile, Croatia and USA in the
group phase.
The official draw was conducted by FIFA Event Manager, Jaime
Yarza on Thursday night (early Friday
in Nigeria) amidst pomp and ceremony at the iconic Centro de las Artes
(Art Centre) 660 in Santiago, and Amuneke reckoned that his team's route
is cut out.
" The draw is a welcome development
because we had been waiting anxiously for long to know about the teams
we are going to meet and it is interesting that we are in the same group
with the host team, Chile," admitted the former African Footballer of
the Year. "I think our group like the rest is not an easy one and we
were not expecting anything less. As such, we must be ready to play any
team after all, we are the defending champions."
Incidentally, four-time record
champions, Golden Eaglets would have the honour of playing the opening
match of the tournament against Team USA on October 17
at the 47,000 capacity Estadio Nacional Martinez Pradanos in Santiago.
"We know there won't be any easy game for
us and we have to redouble our efforts and continue to prepare well
since we know now our group phase opponents.
"All this while, we had been working
generally but we would now be working specifically with our opponents in
mind," noted Amuneke who was an assistant when Nigeria won the U-17
trophy in 2013.
The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be
held between October 17 and November 8 across eight cities
and the Golden Eaglets' other group phase matches is scheduled to hold
on October 20th against host Chile in Vina del
Mar and against Croatia on October 23
at Coquimbo.
The Groups
Group A :(Santiago, Vina del Mar,
Coquimbo): Chile, Croatia, Nigeria, USA
Group B :(La Serena, Coquimbo, Vina del
Mar): England, Guinea, Brazil, Korea Republic
Group C : (Chillan, Talca): Australia,
Germany, Mexico, Argentina
Group D:(Talca, Chillan): Belgium, Mali,
Honduras, Ecuador
Group E :(Concepcion, Puerto Montt):
South Africa, Costa Rica, Korea DPR, Russia
Group F :(Puerto Montt, Concepcion): New
Zealand, France, Syria, Paraguay
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