Eaglets coach aims for pound of flesh against Cote d’ Ivoire

The Coach of the Golden Eaglets, Manu Garba, has vowed to do everything humanly possible to lead his team this time around to victory when Nigeria confronts Cote d’Ivoire, the only team that defeated the country in the group stage of the ongoing CAF U-17 Championship that would be rounded off in Marrakesh, Morocco on Saturday.
Cote d’Ivoire defeated the Golden Eaglets 1-0 in the Group B encounter.
Garba, who thanked God for his side’s 4-2 victory over resilient Tunisia in the second semi-final match played on Wednesday, however, warned that the final match against the Ivorian team won’t be east at all.
But he promised the Ivorians a tougher game this time around.
“The final match against Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday is going to be a different ball game because we were unlucky when they beat us 1-0 in the group stage,” he said.” We are going to play a better game because we now know them better.”
“We are very happy to qualify for the final because our aim was to come here and win this trophy and make Nigerians happy,” Chidera Ezeh, a member of the team, also said at the post match conference. “We are happy to be in the final and as usual, we would be waiting for instructions from our coaches to play against Cote d’Ivoire in the final.”
Tunisian Coach, Ben Soltane Abdelhay, admitted it was a difficult game for both teams.
Abdelhay, however, admitted that the Nigerians were stronger and deserved their place in the final.
“It was a tough match for us because Nigeria was stronger physically,” he said. “The temperature affected us too but that is not taking anything away from Nigeria.”
Saturday’s final between Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire would be the first at this level but it would be Nigeria’s fourth final appearance.
The Golden Eaglets conquered the continent twice in 2001 and 2007.