DR. Emmanuel Ikpeme, Deputy Secretary General at the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) has commended the Golden Eaglets for their hard-fought 1-1 draw against Korea at the 2015 Suwon Continental Cup International Youth (U-17) Football Tournament.
Ikpeme arrived Suwon in time on Wednesday and was on hand to see the Emmanuel Amuneke-led side battle the hosts to a standstill in front of their fans at the Suwon World Cup Stadium. Speaking to the team afterwards, Ikpeme said he was pleased with the team's fighting spirit and drive despite playing their first match barely 24 hours after arriving Suwon.
" Of course, you can do better in your next game but we must commend you because this is the first big test for some of you," Ikpeme, a trained psychologist told the players.
The Eaglets were in Suwon with just six of the 21 players that secured the team's Chile 2015 World Cup ticket with the remaining 12 players picked from recent screening exercise.
Said Ikpeme: "Though, this was the first time you are playing a top game especially against a team like Korea who has been on ground, it is never going to be excuse because Nigerians expect you to do well as the defending champions.
" The match against Brazil is going to be tougher but you can always get better against Brazil," he noted.
Ikpeme's sentiment was echoed to the players by Amuneke at Thursday's training with the former African Footballer of the Year admonishing his wards to step up their game in subsequent matches.
He said: “I want to commend all of you because there were doubts about what you can do before we came here but we have to be focussed especially against Brazil today (Friday).
"Of course, Brazil would be a tougher match but that can only be possible if you allow them to play," explained Amuneke with a dossier on the Brazilian team.
"We need power, skill and coordination against Brazil and if you do what is needed, we won't have much problem on Friday,"
Nigeria's U-17 side, Golden Eaglets would today (Friday) have the complement of their mercurial captain Kelechi Nwakali in their second match against Brazil at the 2015 Suwon Continental Cup International Youth (U-17) Football Tournament.
