Eaglets: It’s not yet time to celebrate —Chukwu

Christian Chukwu

Former Super Eagles coach Christian Chukwu  believes the Golden Eaglets fans  need to wait till Nigeria  complete their  group matches at the 2013 FIFA under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates  before rejoicing.

The Eaglets  on Saturday made a bold statement following their  6-1 hammering of  defending champions  Mexico  in their opening Group F clash at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain City but Chukwu  is not totally convinced.

“The Eaglets have started very well in the competition. I would say they have started perfectly,” the Nigeria ’80 Africa Cup of Nations winner told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday.

“The team deserve commendation for their efforts. Coach Manu Garba has done well by winning his first game against the defending champions.

“But beating Mexico doesn’t mean we’ll  win the title. So celebration is too early.

“We must beat Sweden to qualify for the next round before we can celebrate.

“We don’t know the strengths of other teams until we play  them.  It doesn’t follow that a team that lose their  first game are out of a  tournament. And it doesn’t mean you will reach the final or win a competition because you beat the defending champions.

“The Eaglets are a good side, but there other tough sides in the competition. Let’s not put the young players under pressure.”

Chukwu, who assisted Sebastine Brodrick-Imasuen to win the maiden edition of the tournament in China in 1985, praised Manu for “selecting players truly within the age bracket”.

“The players were selected from academies and I’m very happy that we have decided against featuring overage players in age-grade tournaments,” the ex-Eagles captain said.

“The players we took to China in 1985 played for a very long time after the competition. Jonathan Akpoborie, Nduka Ugbade, Baldwin Buzuaye and others played for the Super Eagles before they quit the game. But I can’t stick out my neck and say the the squad we featured in other editions were truly Under-17

“Some of them have vanished from the scene after featuring in age-grade tournaments while their European and South American counterparts are still playing.

“Out of the squad we took to the Under-20 World Cup in Holland in 2005, only Mikel Obi is playing at the top level. Where are the rest?

“(Lionel) Messi and  (Sergio) Aguero, who played in the same completion, are playing for top clubs

“I’m happy the Nigeria Football Federation board decided to change the situation by not putting Manu under pressure to select overage players for the competition in the UAE. The NFF ensured that the players were underwent age tests (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to ascertain their age before being selected for the tournament.”