Nigeria Sports Arena

Nigeria's Under-17 team, Golden Eaglets, Thursday arrived safely in Niamey for the 11th African Under-17 Championship and were given a royal welcome by members of the local-based Nigeria Football Supporters Club. Flag-waving members of the NFSC led by their chairman, Sidney Sunday Ubanna, rode in a motorcade with the team to their  new abode in Niamey, Palace Royale Hotel , where accommodation have been reserved for the team. The Nigerians assured the team of total support for the team throughout their stay in Niamey. A representative of Nigeria Ambassador to Niger, who was unavoidably absent, was also at the hotel to welcome the team. "Some of us were actually in Sokoto yesterday when you played the friendly match against Fasbir and we were really impressed with the performance of the boys," said Sidney. "We are also expecting more of our members and we are going to support the team all the way at this championship." Meanwhile, Coach Emmanuel Amuneke on a...

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at the weekend confirmed that the Ahmadu Bello Stadium (ABS) in Kaduna would on January 17 host the proposed friendly match between the Golden Eaglets and Amajimbos of South Africa. Both countries will be using the match to test the readiness of their youngsters for next month's 11th African Under-17 Championship in Niger where they have been drawn in separate preliminary groups. While the Golden Eaglets drew Niger, Guinea and Zambia in Group A, the Amajimbos who are coached by Molefi Ntseki, are in Group B alongside defending champions, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Cameroon. Officials believe the friendly would also afford both teams the chance of playing against a team outside their sub regions. Incidentally, the trip to Kaduna would be Golden Eaglets' second time under coach Emmanuel Amuneke after they recorded a 3-2 and 3-1 win against their colleagues from Egypt last May. Yet the forthcoming match promises to be even more exciting a...

Emmanuel Amuneke, Golden Eaglets' Head coach, has described Sunday's draw of the 11th African U-17 Championship-Niger 2015- that pitched Nigeria against Niger, Guinea and Zambia in Group A as a fair deal, adding that his wards would be focussed  at securing a  ticket to the 2015 FIFA World Cup in Chile. "I think it is a fair grouping not minding the fact that we are going to face the host country, Niger," Amuneke stated. "We are not going to underrate any of the teams and as I said before the draw, our sole objective in Niger is to qualify for the World Cup and after that, we can begin to talk about other things." Indeed, Golden Eaglets have their work cut out since they are going to battle against the host whom their illustrious predecessors, white-washed 10-1 on aggregate in the qualifiers for Morocco 2013 where they finished second and secured a ticket to the FIFA World Cup in the UAE - and eventually earned Nigeria a record fourth title. "We are...