It would be battle-royale as the two leading teams in Group A at Niger 2015, Nigeria and Guinea tango at the 30,00 capacity Stade Général Seyni Kountché (SGSK) on Wednesday .
There is so much to play for since a win for either side would guarantee a berth into the semi finals and a ticket for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. Of course, there is the undercurrent since the Guineans would seek to avenge their twin loss to their Nigerian counterparts on the road to the last championship in Morocco following a 3-0 and 4-0 win in Calabar and Conakry respectively.
“I don’t want you to have the erroneous belief that we are the world champions as most commentators always say,” Coach Emmanuel Amuneke warned his wards against complacence ahead of the crucial encounter.
“Yes, Nigeria is the world champion at this level but we have to create our own history by winning something; the past is gone.” Amuneke who was an assistant coach the last time in Morocco, has every reason to be wary after the Golden Eaglets stumbled and lost 1-0 to Cote d’Ivoire in their second game despite a 6-1 massacre of Ghana earlier.
“We are not getting carried away after the victory against Niger because we know Guinea can be tricky after watching them against Zambia,” noted Amuneke.
He has also reminded the players about the task ahead, urging them to
be watchful of the crafty West Africans: “We came here with one objective: To qualify for the World Cup in Chile and after that we can begin to talk about other things. You can see that if you allow them, they can play but if you follow our instructions, we would all have reason to celebrate on Wednesday after the game.”
Already, the Nigerian camp has indentified gifted number 11-shirted Abddoulaye Jules Keita as the lynchpin in the Guinean line-up as well as Captain Mohammed Mary Kurume who holds forth in defence, not forgetting agile goalkeeper, Mousa Camara, who foiled Zambia repeatedly on Sunday.
CAF Picks Congolese Referee
The Golden Eaglets would for the second time at the 11th African U-17
Championship in Niger have the benefit of wearing the country’s home gear against Guinea on Wednesday.
The Eaglets began their campaign at Niger 2015 on Sunday against Niger in the traditional green jerseys and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has again approved same for the match against Guinea while the goalkeepers would wear complete blue colours. On the other hand, Guinean players would spot red shirt, yellow short and white socks.
The match which will kick off at 4:00pm Nigerian time at the Stade Général Seyni Kountché (SGSK) would be handled by Ndala Jean-Jacques Ngambo from the Congo Democratic Republic. Ngambo, who was born in 1987, has been an international referee since 2013 and he has horned his skill in major African competitions including the CAF Champions League.
To serve as referee assistants are the duo of Arsénio Chadreque Marengula from Mozambique and Senegalese Serigne Cheikh Toure who was equally on duty on Sunday when Nigeria beat Niger. Lazard Tsiba Kamba from Congo is the fourth and reserved referee while Ngenzi Raul Gisanura would be the match commissioner.
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