Nigeria national under-17 football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nigeria Under-17
Nickname(s)Golden Eaglets
AssociationNigeria Football Association
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coach[1]
Home stadiumAbuja Stadium
FIFA codeNGA
First colours
Second colours
Biggest defeat
 France 3–0 Nigeria 
(Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; 30 September 2001)
 Benin 3–0 Nigeria 
(Porto-Novo, Benin; , 2009)
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Appearances12 (first in 1985)
Best resultChampions (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, 2015)
Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
Appearances8 (first in 1995)
Best resultChampions (2001, 2007)

The Nigeria national U-17 football team known as the Golden Eaglets, is the youngest team that represents Nigeria in football[2] The team is the most successful in international football for their age group winning a record, five FIFA U-17 World Cup titles and are runners up on three occasions. They are also two-time Africa U-17 Cup of Nations champions with their most recent title at the 2007 edition.[3]

History[]

The team won the maiden edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1985 hosted by China, 1993, 2007, 2013, and 2015 (becoming only the second team since Brazil to win it back to back); making them the first team ever to win the junior world cup five times.[4] They also won the African Under-17 Championship in 2001 and 2007, and were runners-up in 1995 and 2013.

After the 2007 victory there was some discussion as to whether the success should be rewarded in the form of cash, or if longer-term investments were more suitable for teenage players. It was pointed out that some previous players had found themselves reduced to poverty due to injury or mismanagement of their funds.[4]

Heading into the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, head coach Henry Nwosu was replaced by John Obuh, coach of Kwara United.[5]

Although Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, they participated again in the 2013 edition of the tournament. Planning was thrown into disarray however in August when key members of the team was determined by MRI scanning to be overage and excluded from the team.[6] In their first match, the team defeated the defending champions Mexico with a 6–1 score. They only failed to defeat Sweden in the group stage, but they did so in the semi-finals. In the final match they faced and defeated Mexico for a second time, obtaining their fourth U-17 World Cup and becoming the national team to win the most U-17 tournaments so far.

The team were again the subject of age cheating accusations when, a total of 26 players from the 60-strong squad were sent home from their training camp in 2016 after failing compulsory MRI scans used to test age ahead of an African Cup of Nations qualifier.[7] It is important to note that amidst all the age cheating accusations, the team has never been found guilty of fielding overage players in any competition. All the players accused of being overage were all caught at the Abuja training camp and sent home before they played any game for the team.[6][7]

Competitive record[]

A gold background colour indicates that Nigeria won the tournament.

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Team honours and achievements[]

Intercontinental

Continental

Others

Staff[]

Management[]

  • Team Coordinator: Suleiman Abubakar
  • Secretary: Egbaiyelo Tayo
  • Media Coordinator: Morakinyo Abodunrin

Sports[]

  • Head Coach:
  • Assistant Coach:
  • Assistant Coach:
  • Scout: Hassan Abdallah
  • Goalkeeper Coach:

Medical[]

  • Doctor: Olarinoye Ayodeji
  • Physiotherapist: Oyegunna Gabriel
  • Equipment Manager: Mohammed Kafa Usman

Squad[]

Nigeria announced a squad of 21 players on 16 October 2019 for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup[8][9]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1 1GK (2002-09-20)20 September 2002 (aged 17) Nigeria Abuja Football College
2 4FW (2003-05-12)12 May 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria Sporting Dreams FC
3 2DF (2003-10-10)10 October 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria
4 3MF (2002-05-17)17 May 2002 (aged 17) Nigeria Collings Edwin FC
5 2DF (2003-03-16)16 March 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria A&B Academy
6 2DF (2003-03-02)2 March 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria Giant Brilliants FC
7 4FW Olakunnle Olusegun (2002-04-23)23 April 2002 (aged 17) Nigeria ABS
8 3MF (2003-11-14)14 November 2003 (aged 15) Nigeria Jossy United FC
9 4FW (2003-05-16)16 May 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria Giant Brilliants FC
10 3MF (2002-12-20)20 December 2002 (aged 16) Nigeria Falala Academy
11 2DF (2003-04-27)27 April 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria G12 FC
12 4FW Peter Olawale (2002-07-26)26 July 2002 (aged 17) Nigeria Tripple 44 FC
13 4FW Akinkunmi Amoo (2002-06-07)7 June 2002 (aged 17) Nigeria Sidos FC
14 3MF (2003-09-27)27 September 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria FC Hearts
15 3MF (2003-08-11)11 August 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria B. Angel FC
16 1GK (2002-06-21)21 June 2002 (aged 17) England West Ham United
17 4FW (2003-05-25)25 May 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria Riverline FC
18 4FW Ibraheem Jabaar (2002-10-24)24 October 2002 (aged 17) Nigeria Ijebu FC
19 4FW Abba Bichi (2003-12-27)27 December 2003 (aged 15) Nigeria Talentbase Sport FC
20 3MF (2003-06-15)15 June 2003 (aged 16) Nigeria Dabo Babes Academy
21 1GK (2003-01-01)1 January 2003 (aged 16) England AFC Bournemouth

Notable former players[]

   

See also[]

  • Super Eagles (Nigeria national football team)
  • Flying Eagles (Nigeria national under-20 football team)
  • African U-17 Championship

References[]

  1. ^ "Fatai Amoo replaces Manu Garba as Eaglets coach". Score Nigeria. 23 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Fifa U17 World Cup: Champions Nigeria must avoid stereotypes in modern age | The National". Thenational.ae. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Golden Eaglets miss out on 3rd U17 AFCON title with lots of work to do". May 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Nigeria: Golden Eaglets - Return of the Argonauts". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012.
  5. ^ Egbokhan, John (13 August 2009). "Nwosu predicts doom for Eaglets". Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b Okeleji, Oluwashina (19 August 2013). "Nigeria U-17 players fail age tests ahead of the World Cup". BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Nigeria's under-17 squad wiped out as half are older than 17". Independent Uk. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Nigeria U17 squad For WYC Camp In Brazil revealed". 10 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Official squad lists confirmed for Brazil 2019". 18 October 2019.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""