NIGERIA Football Federation (NFF) President Amaju Pinnick on Tuesday charged the national U-17 team to emulate the path of glory set by their illustrious predecessors dating back to 1985 as the Golden Eaglets head to Chile for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Pinnick, who made a whistle-stop at the Abuja National Stadium to watch the Golden Eaglets' training session, reiterated that the Coach Emmanuel Amuneke led side has the wherewithal to conquer the world yet again.
While admonishing the players and officials to represent the country with the best of their abilities in Chile, Pinnick assured that the NFF would as expected fulfill all its obligations in cash and kind to the team, adding that the federation was leaving no stone unturned to ensure the team’s successful campaign in Chile.
“First and foremost, I want to thank Coach Amuneke and his technical crew for showing high sense of responsibility since they started this assignment because we know it is not an easy task ," said Pinnick who is on the verge of celebrating one year in office.
“But it is now left for you guys to go to Chile and do your best because your coach for instance, served the country very well as player and we can’t forget all the historic goals he scored for the Super Eagles at the 1994 African Cup of Nations and Atlanta Olympics."
Pinnick who visited the Golden Eaglets in company of Dr. Muhammed Sanusi, NFF's General Secretary and his special assistant, Nasiru Jibrin, said the team was capable of going all the way in Chile, enjoining them to achieve a milestone as did their pace- setting predecessors of 1985.
“In 1985 we became the first country to win the Under-16 World Cup in China when we beat Germany with two classical goals and we have won the same trophy three additional times," recalled Pinnick.
He added: "Our current President Muhammadu Buhari was in charge in 1985 when we won the FIFA Under-16 World Cup for the first time and that was exactly 30 years ago but we believe you can repeat the same feat in Chile because Nigeria is regarded as the best team at this level because we had also won in 1993, 2007 and 2013."
