Some football coaches yesterday, warned the Golden Eaglets to be careful with their defending when they face Uruguay in their quarter-final match at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that they believed the team's defence was not strong enough to withstand pressure from strong opposition. The Nigerian under-17 male team will take on their South American counterparts today at the Sharjah Stadium, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
They will be battling the Uruguayans for a semi-final ticket. Peter Dedevbo, coach of the national under-20 female team, said defence was the only department the Eaglets' technical crew needed to work on for the team to excel. "They already have a strong midfield and a strong attacking spirit, but this is not enough for them to face a strong opposition, especially at this stage of the tournament.
"The technical crew has to work more on the defence because it is not strong enough, as we have seen in their previous matches and through the goals they conceded," Dedevbo said. Coach of Pelican Stars of Calabar, Adat Egan, advised that communication between the team's goalkeeper and the left fullback should be improved and overlapping by the defenders be avoided.
"I think the anxiety about their attacking spirit is affecting the goalkeeper and the left-full-back. "Overlapping should be avoided as much as possible, because they (the goalkeeper and defender) can get confused and the team can pay for the mistake by conceding a goal, if not goals," Egan said.
Coach Abimbola Samuel, a former national under-20 male team coach, said the team should not give room for complacency. "The players should not think that they have arrived, because any team that reaches the quarter- finals stage of any competition has a chance of winning the tournament.
"If they (the players) should approach this match the way they did against Iran in their Round of 16 match, I believe they will advance to the next stage. "But, they should be more careful about their defence, because that is the only department they have been found wanting in, going by what we have seen so far.
"They should just be focused and be as hungry for goals as ever, and the sky will be their starting point," Samuel, who is the proprietor of CAS Academy, said.