Manu Garba Douses Pressure

[Folami David]

Nigeria's Under-17 national team head coach, Manu Garba, has declared that they are not under pressure to face Mexico in the Fifa Under-17 World Cup showpiece game in Abu Dhabi this Friday.
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Garba is confident of guiding Nigeria's Golden Eaglets to a fourth title at under-17 level after watching his boys defeat Sweden 3-0 in the semifinal in Dubai on Tuesday with goals from Taiwo Awoniyi, Samuel Okon and Chidera Ezeh.
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But Garba, who was an assistant coach of the Golden Eaglets six years ago when they won the Under-17 World Cup in South Korea, was quick to point out that the Mexicans have been resilient following their recovery from a 1-6 loss in their opening game against Nigeria.
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The Nigerian coach branded the North Americans as "a very technical team."
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"We showed today (Tuesday) that we are a very strong side. We are not going to be on any pressure against Mexico in the final because we would prepare mentally, physically and psychologically for the final.
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"The Mexican team I maintained are a very technical team and I believe the final is going to be a great one but by the grace of God, we shall win this trophy for Nigeria and Africa.
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"I still maintained that the Mexican team are a very technical team and we can see their resilience by coming from a 6-1 loss to us (Nigeria) and still be in the final," Manu said at the post-match media conference.
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Mexico's El Tri reached the final after dumping out Argentina 3-0 in the first semifinal at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.