Nigeria Goes For Record Fourth Title

[Folami David]

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets will seek to win a record fourth Fifa Under-17 World Cup title when they face defending champions, Mexico in Abu Dhabi this Friday.
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The Mexicans and Nigerians got into final on the back of impressive and flattery three-nil wins in the semis against Argentina and Sweden respectively on Tuesday.
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Both teams had earlier met in the group stage when Nigeria ran out 6-1 victors against Mexico's El Tri in Al Ain City on October 19.
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But the Mexicans regrouped remarkably from that setback in pretty fashion to reach the showpiece match after dispatching Italy, Brazil and Argentina in the second stage of the tournament.
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Nigeria playmaker, Kelechi Iheanacho, is wary of the threat the North Americans can pose when both teams clash at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in the final match.
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Iheanacho, now in the running for the tournament's most valuable player and golden boot, also made a bold declaration that the Golden Eaglets can be unstoppable when they get into their strides.
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"I'm sure they won't feel great about that first result.
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They'll want to put pressure on us and we'll have to be careful. We'll respect them but it's hard to go against us when we're playing our good football," Iheanacho, who scored four times in Mexico's 6-1 demolition in the first meeting, told Fifa.com.
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Nigeria's superb run at the Fifa Under-17 Cup in the UAE is underscored by their flowing style of football and remarkable scoring rate which has seen them net 23 goals in six games averaging 3.8 goals per game.
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Now that should be a source of concern for the Mexicans but their leading scorer, Ivan Ochoa, who has scored four times, holds a different view.
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"We've got some unfinished business with them (the Nigerians)," Ochoa told Fifa.com.
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Mexico might be the titleholders but Nigeria are favourites to land a record fourth title having won the Under-17 World Cup in 1985, 1993 and 2007. Brazil are the other only nation to have won the tournament on three occasions in 1997, 1999 and 2003.

[Shola Sholaz]

The Golden Eaglets already achieved this dream as expected so big congratulations to them all. All the players did well