The Estadio Sausalito in
Vina del Mar will come alive again today when Nigeria and Brazil for
the first time in the history of the global cadet championship clash
for a semi- final ticket at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Chile 2015.
There
is a healthy rivalry between both countries with Nigeria slightly ahead
of Brazil with four titles as against three under the belt of the South
Americans and Golden Eaglets’ Head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has admitted
that it will be a battle royale when the two most accomplished teams
at this level ‘meet.’ “
Our
match against Brazil on Sunday is not a cup final but I agree with you
that it is not going to be an easy match either,” Amuneke told
thenff.com.“
This is
one more game towards our objectives ; the Brazilian team is very
good and over a month ago, we beat them 2-1 at the Suwon U-17 Youth
International Tournament in South Korea.
“We
have seen the stuff they are made of but it would be a totally
different ball game on Sunday because this is a World Cup match and not
a friendly match or a pre-World Cup tournament .
“ But I’m hopeful, we are going to put up a good fight against them on Sunday,” Amuneke said.
Nigeria
and Brazil have seemingly had an identical route to the quarter final
stage after both lost once at the Estadio Francisco Sanchez Rumoroso
in Coquimbo at the group phase.
Whereas
Brazil lost 1-0 to South Korea in their first opening match in Group B,
the Golden Eaglets lost 2-1 to Croatia in their last Group A match and
Amuneke further explained that there won’t be margin for errors on
Sunday.
He
said: “ On Sunday, both teams would be at their best because we have
both seen ourselves in Korea before now ; and I expect this to be a
difficult match for both teams but what would count is the mentality of
both teams on Sunday,” he said .
“ We
don’t build our team on jokers rather, we want to play as a team
because every player brought here is equal to the task but we are going
to see how we can get better on Sunday.”
Source: The nationonlineng.
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