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Nigeria's U17 coach vows to defend title at FIFA World Cup

Xinhua, August 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Coach of Nigeria's junior football team Emmanuel Amuneke on Friday vowed to defend his team's title as champions in the FIFA U17 World Cup to be hosted by Chile in two month time.

The U17 head coach said his hopes were raised after his team was drawn in Group A at a ceremony Thursday night at the iconic Centro de las Artes (Art Centre) 660 in Chile's city of Santiago. Nigeria is drawn in the same group with host Chile, Croatia and USA in the tournament's group stage.

"We are the defending champions and we must be ready to play any team," he told reporters, adding he was upbeat about his team's chances to defend their World Cup title.

The Nigerian coach was deputy coach of the same team in 2013, when the U17 team conquered other football teams in that category. He said all this while, the team had been working hard ahead of the 2015 World Cup, but they will work harder now, specifically having their opponents in mind.

"I think our group, like the rest, is not an easy one and we were not expecting anything less. We know there will not be any easy game for us and we have to redouble our efforts and continue to prepare well," he added.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup is scheduled to hold between Oct. 17 and Nov. 8, with the Nigerian team, also called Golden Eaglets, playing the opening match against USA at the 47,000 capacity Estadio Nacional Martinez Pradanos in Santiago. Endi