Four-time champions the Golden Eaglets on Friday morning defeated Mexico 4-2 in the semi-final to set up a final clash with West African rivals Mali, who had earlier defeated Belgium 3-1, at the Estadio Sausalito in Vina Del Mar, on Sunday.
Mexico, who were also beaten by the Eaglets in the final two years ago in the United Arab Emirates on their way to winning the event for a record fourth time, will earlier battle Belgium in the third-place game.
Eaglets, who are the defending champions of the competition, are hoping to extend their record to five wins having won the maiden edition in 1985 and followed it up with victories in 1993, 2007 and 2013.
It is the second time two African sides will clash in the final of the competition. Nigeria won its second title at the expense of fierce rivals Ghana in the final of the 1993 edition in Japan.
The 2015 final pits together the best attacking and defensive sides and it’s expected to live up to its billing as a potentially explosive clash. Nigeria have scored 21 goals and conceded five while African champions Mali have scored 12 and conceded just two.
Though bookmakers have given the Eaglets the edge, coach Emmanuel Amuneke says the Malians deserve respect.
“The Malians are the African champions, and we have to respect them. Aside that, they have also had a great tournament here in Chile but we are a team that finds a way to play and function no matter the difficulty posed by the opposition,” Amuneke told thenff.com.
“When Sunday comes, we are going to play Mali and I think it is going to be an interesting match. We thank God, we are going to play the final again and this gives us the opportunity to defend the trophy we won in 2013.”
Mali coach, Baye Ba, believes his boys are capable of beating Nigeria.
He said on FIFA.com, “We faced a very good team (Belgium) that had us tired. For the final, I do not care if it’s Mexico or Nigeria. I just want to face a team that we can beat.”
But Eloka Asokuh, a member of the Eaglets that won the 1993 edition of the U-17 World Cup in Japan, doesn’t believe the Nigerian U-17 side are a team Ba and his team can beat.
He insists the Eaglets only need to extend their winning mentality into the final game to triumph against the Malians.
Asokuh alongside captain Wilson Oruma, Nwankwo Kanu, Peter Anosike, Celestine Babayaro, Festus Odini and others, were part of the Eaglets that defeated the Black Starlets that paraded the likes of Sammy Kuffour, Emmanuel Duah, Daniel Addo and Sebastine Barnes, 2-1 to hand Nigeria a second title.
Asokuh stated, “I watched them (Eaglets) on Thursday night against the Mexicans; they played so well. All they need to do is to ensure that they put in their best in the final, just like they have been doing since the beginning of the competition, and they will come out victorious.
“They should approach the match versus the Malians, the same way they approached their previous games in the tournament. If they do, I don’t see the Malians beating them. We won the first ever final that pitted two African countries against each other. I believe this set of Eaglets can do it too against Mali.”
Champions Nigeria opened their account in Chile with a 2-0 victory over USA before pummeling hosts Chile 5-1 and losing 2-1 to Croatia in their final group game. They white-washed Australia 6-0 in the Round of 16 before beating Brazil in the quarter-final and Mexico 4-2 in the semi-final respectively.
The Malians however, are unbeaten in Chile. They drew 0-0 with Belgium in their first Group D game. The African champions then beat Ecuador 2-1 and Honduras 3-0 to seal a knockout place. In the Round of 16, Korea DPR fell 3-0 to the Malians before Croatia lost 1-0 in the quarter-finals. Belgium were beaten 3-1 by the Africans in the semi-final.
The battle apart from involving two African teams also has team and individual record chasers. Mali will be seeking to win their first title after qualifying for their very first final since the competition began. Their best performance before Chile 2015 was a quarter-final exit at the 2001 edition of the tournament.
Nigeria, who are the competition’s most successful team, are also seeking to extend their trophy haul to five. They currently hold four titles and have come second thrice. They will also be seeking to be the second side apart from Brazil, to successfully defend the title back-to-back. Brazil did so in the 1997 and 1999 editions.
The gangling Victor Osimhen has nine goals to his name, equaling the tournament’s all-time scoring record held by France’s Sinama Pongolle and Ivory Coast’s Souleymane Coulibaly at the 2001 and 2011 editions respectively.
Osimhen will be seeking to become the highest goalscorer ever in the history of the competition. If he manages a goal in today’s final, he will return home with the enviable record.
Mali’s goalkeeper, Samuel Diarra, will also be seeking to be the tournament’s best goalkeeper having conceded only two goals on the way to the final, but it appears to be seen how he will stop the Eaglets’ rampaging attackers.
Sidiki Maiga is Mali’s top scorer with three goals. He told FIFA.com that the final would be unpredictable.
“We didn’t play against them (Nigeria) in qualifying but I think they’ve got a good team. We’ll see what happens. We deliberately haven’t paid too much attention to them; we try to get an idea of our opposition right before every game and that’s that,” Maiga said.
Former Nigeria internationals, Joe Erico and Christian Nwokocha, have warned the Eaglets to be wary of the African champions.
Nwokocha said that that the Malians are a fast-attacking side and would pose threats to the Nigerian defence.
“The strength of the Malians is in their attacking speed. They make use of the wings and shoot from outside. The Eaglets have to keep it tight at the back if they want to retain the title,” he said.
“The Eaglets have good and fast attackers also but they should work hard to avoid the Malians scoring first. If they score before Nigeria, it tends to expose the defence the more as Nigeria would be pushing up front in search of the equaliser.”
Erico believes the Eaglets can defend their title if they keep up with their performance in the tournament thus far.
He said, “The title is within touching distance for them. Their performance has been amazing but they need to go the extra mile to retain the trophy. The Malians have the best defence in Chile but it is penetrable.
“Their attacking style is also fast just as the Eaglets; the goalkeeper needs to watch out for distance shots and also set-pieces. In all, it will be an interesting final.”
The Eaglets’ 4-2 victory over Mexico’s El Tri made it the team’s eight win in eight semi-final matches at the U-17 World Cup. In doing so, they also brought their opponents’ run of three previous semi-final triumphs (in three attempts) to an abrupt halt.
However, in just their fourth appearance at this level, Les Aiglonnets have achieved a feat that no other Malian national side at any age category has ever managed: progressing to the showpiece match of a FIFA tournament.
No doubt, the two African sides have proved that they are the best in Chile, but the Eaglets would have to engage the Malians today in a grueling encounter to pick the overall winner.(Punch)
Osarumwense Okunmwendia liked this on Facebook.