Nigeria’s Golden Eaglet Wallop Mali To Retain FIFA U17 World Cup

Several records were set and even broken as the Nigerian Under 17 national team defeated fellow African brothers Mali in the final of the FIFA Under 17 World Cup, Chile 2015.

The Golden Eaglets qualified for the World Cup in Chile as the fourth Best African Team, regardless of the fact that they were defending champions. Tutored by former Super Eagles And Fc Barcelona forward Emmanuel Amuneke the Nigerian Lads played a brand of football that was eye-candy.

The highlight of the first half was the Penalty save by Malian Goalkeeper Samuel Diarra from a Osinachi Ebere Penalty Kick, subsequent rebounds were blocked by the Malian defence and the bar.

The First Half ended goalless but Golden Eaglets came out guns blazing in the second half. Top Striker for the Eaglets And Tournament highest goal scorer Victor Osimhen Wrote his name in goal when he got the first goal of the final to become the highest goal scorer of all time at the Under 17 level when he scored his first of the game and the tenth of the tournament.

This was enough to guarantee him the Adidas Golden booth award, Funsho Bamboye put the icing on the cake when he scored the second goal of the game to pile pressure on the Malians who fought gallantly but just didn’t have what it takes to go toe to toe with the Nigerians.

The final blast of the whistle only meant that Nigeria had now set a record of five FIFA Under 17 World Cup Victories and this was the first under 17 trophy that Nigeria would win on a different continent having won a four previous trophies had been won in Asia.

Golden Eaglets Coach Emmanuel Amuneke

The Spectacular display of the Golden Eaglets Also saw them cart away individual awards, As captain of the side Nwakali got the Adidas Bronze booth. Nwakali was also named the Most Valuable player of the tournament ahead of top scorer Osimhen who was awarded the Silver ball as the second most valuable player of the FIFA Chile 2015.

Its Been a very successful outing for the Nigerian team in Chile and Kudos most go Coach Emanuel Amuneke and his backroom staff for this wonderful display, perhaps this crop of extremely talented players might break the hoodoo for the Nigerians at the next FIFA Under 20 world Cup.

Osimhen Not ‘Crazy’ About Goals Record

FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 top marksman, Victor Osimhen is unfazed about the prospect of breaking the Championship’s nine-goal record.

The bean-pole striker on Thursday equaled the long standing record of nine goals in a single tournament jointly held by Frenchman Florent Sinama Pongolle and Ivorian Souleymane Coulibaly who were top scorers at the global cadet championship at Trinidad & Tobago 2001 and Mexico 2011 respectively.

“I’m happy that I was able to match the record set by others in the past but that was never my ambition here,” said Osimhen, on the books of Lagos Ultimate Strikers.”The most important thing is for us to win the trophy on Sunday and that would be the greatest achievement for us.”

Osimhen opened his Chile 2015 tally with a goal in the 2-0 win over the USA on the opening day. He continued with a brace in the 5-1 defeat of host Chile and was also Nigeria’s scorer in the 2-1 loss to Croatia in the group phase. He was also in superb form at the commencement of the knockout stage by grabbing the first hat trick of Chile 2015 in the crushing 6-0 defeat of Australia in Round 16.

Osimhen followed up his act with a goal each in the 3-0 and 4-2 wins over Brazil and Mexico respectively in the quarter and semifinals to solidify his position as the Chile 2015 Golden Boot Award hot –shot.

Golden Osimhen Equals World Cup Record

Golden Eaglets’ prolific scorer, Victor Osimhen has equaled the long-standing FIFA U-17 World Cup scoring record of nine goals in a tournament following his goal in the 4-2 defeat of Mexico on Thursday at the Estadio Municipal in Concepción.

The record was previously jointly held by Frenchman Florent Sinama Pongolle and Ivorian Souleymane Coulibaly who were top scorers at the global cadet championship at Trinidad & Tobago 2001 and Mexico 2011 respectively.

At Chile 2015, Osimhen had earlier achieved a rare feat of equaling the seven- goal scoring record earlier achieved by the likes of Nigeria’s Macauley Chrisantus (2007); Spain’s David (1997); Ghana’s Ismael Addo (1999) and Sweden’s Berisha (2013).

FIFA u17 wc 2015 offical mascot

Osimhen, who is Golden Eaglets leading scorer going into Chile 2015 with a remarkable 41 goals in 73 international and domestic matches, opened his Chile 2015 account with a goal in the 2-0 win over the USA on the opening day. He continued with a brace in the 5-1 defeat of host Chile and was also Nigeria’s scorer in the 2-1 loss to Croatia to round off the group phase. He was also in superb form at the commencement of the knockout stage, by grabbing the first hat trick of Chile 2015 in the crushing 6-0 defeat of Australia in Round 16 and he followed up his act with a goal each in the 3-0 and 2-1 win against Brazil and Mexico respectively in the quarter and semi finals.

With the final match yet to be played, Osimhen is now on the threshold of history to break the record of most goals in a single tournament at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Top 3 Scorers Since 1985

1985-China

8-Marcel Witeczek (Germany)

5-William (Brazil)

4-Bella Momoh (Nigeria)

1987-Canada

5-Yuri Nikiforov (Russia)

5-Moussa Traore (Guinea)

4-Sergei Arutyunian (Russia)

4-Philip Osondu (Nigeria)

1989-Scotland

3-Fode Camara (Guinea)

3-Tulipa (Portugal)

3-Khaled Jasem (Bahrain)

1991-Italy

4-Adriano (Brazil)

4-Nii Odartey Lamptey (Ghana)

3-Jorge Toledano (Mexico)

1993-Japan

6-Wilson Oruma (Nigeria)

5-Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)

5-Manuel Neira (Chile)

5-Peter Anosike (Nigeria)

1995-Ecuador

5-Daniel Allsopp (Australia)

5-Mohamed Al Kathiri (Oman)

4-Fernando Gatti (Argentina)

1997-Egypt

7-David (Spain)

5-Hashim Saleh (Oman)

4-Seydou Keita (Mali)

1999-New Zealand

7-Ismael Addo (Ghana)

4-Waleed Rasoul (Qatar)

4-Leonardo (Brazil)

2001- Trinidad & Tobago

9-Florent Sinama Pongolle (France)

5-Femi Opabunmi (Nigeria)

4-Caetano (Brazil)

2003-Finland

5-Cesc Fabregas (Spain)

5-Carlos Hidalgo (Colombia)

5-Manuel Curto (Portugal)

2005-Peru

5-Carlos Vela (Portugal)

4-Nuri Sahin (Turkey)

4-Tevfik Kose (Turkey)

2007-Korea Republic

7-Macauley Chrisantus (Nigeria)

6-Ransford Osei (Ghana)

5-Toni Kroos (Germany)

2009-Nigeria

5-Borja (Spain)

5-Sani Emmanuel (Nigeria)

5-Sebastian Gallegos (Uruguay)

2011-Mexico

9-Souleymane Coulibaly (Cote d’Ivoire)

6-Samed Yesil (Germany)

5-Adryan (Brazil)

2013-UAE

7-Valmir Berisha (Sweden)

6-Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)

6-Boschilia (Brazil)