Etim predicts tough Uruguay clash for Nigeria

Golden Eaglets captain, Chidera Eze

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Etim Esin, says Uruguay pose the first real threat to the Golden Eaglets’ bid to win  the FIFA U-17 World Cup for a record fourth time in the United Arab Emirates.

The Eaglets defeated Iran 4-1 in Al Ain City  on Tuesday to book a Saturday quarterfinal date with the South Americans, who defeated Slovakia 4-2 to qualify.

The match promises to be explosive with both sides flaunting same statistics at the tournament: three wins and a draw.

 “For me, this is the first test for the Eaglets in the competition. The team has been playing the likes of Iraq, Iran and Sweden and they have scored 18 goals, conceding just five,” the former Flash Flamingoes player told our correspondent on the telephone after the game.

“But we will be able to assess their chances of winning the competition with the Uruguayan game. We’ve never had it easy playing against South American teams, so let’s see how it goes. And I think the match will bring the best out of the boys.

“South America always present highly technical teams, who are very difficult to beat. Let us not forget that Uruguay like the Eaglets, have not lost a game so far. The Eaglets shouldn’t allow their success go to  their heads.

“I am proud of our boys; they have shown the zeal to succeed. They’ve been winning, and winning brings confidence. It will help them on Saturday.”

 The Chile ’87 U-20 World Cup Flying Eagles star said he was impressed with the individual  players in the UAE 2013 squad, saying they had a future.

He described the use of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a blessing for Nigeria, saying it helped  coach Manu Garba  in picking players with the right age for the team.

He said, “Before, we used to have players, who retired after playing the U-17 World Cup. But I think we have a relatively young squad now and it is evident; the boys are doing very well. My priority is not about winning the cup but about the way the boys are playing.

“From what I see of this team, they can grow gradually to become future Super Eagles players and world stars. But monitoring these players is another area we should look at, if we hope to build stars for the future.”