FIFA: Nigeria 2009 Update, Sunday, Nov. 01

FIFA Under-17 World Cup Round Of 16 Pairings: Hosts Nigeria Battle New Zealand

The FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria has reached the round of 16 with the host country drawn to play debutants New Zealand and Spain up against Africa's other representatives, Burkina Faso, on Thursday. Top favourites and three-time winners Brazil have crashed out of the competition as have the Netherlands. READ STORY

Burkina Faso Hammers Costa Rica 4-1 To Go Through

Football - Burkina Faso became the second African country to reach the next state of the FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament after hosts Nigeria when it hammered Costa Rica 4-1 in their final Group D match at Enugu. The African side took the lead after 12 minutes through Zoungrana Zidane and took full advantage of the expulsion of Costa Rican defender A. Mora one minute later to demolish its opponents. READ STORY

FIFA U-17: Brazilian coach quits

“After 22 years in youth football, I think I’m done with it. I’ve made my decision concerning that. I’m not getting younger. Grey hairs have taken over my head. It’s time I call it quit”, he sounded after his futile attempts to dominate the group B fixtures in Lagos that had Switzerland, Japan and Mexico. READ STORY

Nigeria-U-17-Spectators: Some 416,399 fans watch FIFA U-17 World Cup matches so far

APA - Lagos (Nigeria) No fewer than 416,399 spectators have watched the 32 matches so far played at the ongoing FIFA Under-17 World Cup tournament in Nigeria, the world football governing body (FIFA) said. FIFA said in its Media Channel on Sunday that the spectators might surpass the 434,067 that watched the 12th edition of the tournament in Korea two years ago. READ STORY

Ugbade turns football teacher, promises to produce World Cup players

Before the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup kicked off last week, Saturday Vanguard Sports interviewed Nduka Ugbade, the first captain in the world to lift the U-17 (then it was called U-16) trophy when the Nigerian team beat Germany to become the first winners. He spoke on sundry issues including warning that Germany was not going to be easy for the Golden Eaglets (which turned out so), how some people stopped him from making football history, his new move to train grass-root coaches scientifically as well as produce World Cup players for the country. READ STORY


Athletes angry at dominance of football in Nigerian sports

Football may have won the hearts of many sports fans but some Nigerian professionals of other sports wish for its demise. They say the love Nigerians have for football is responsible for the decline of others sports. Nigeria's hosting of the FIFA U-17 World Cup has further heightened the loathing these athletes feel, as they see the huge resources expended towards the execution of the tournament as a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. READ STORY

Nigerian Corner: Golden Eaglets Class Of 2009 Offer A Bigger Promise

Against most expectations, hosts and defending champions Nigeria have negotiated to the top of what was widely referred to as 'The Group of Death' at the on-going FIFA Under-17 World Cup. The team's performance is even more impressive when gleaned against a woeful outing by all the other African representatives at this tournament save for Burkina Faso. READ STORY


The shame of the 2009 U-17 World Cup

For Nigerians who expected that ten years on, we would have perfected the techniques of successfully hosting a FIFA tournament, have been sorely disappointed. As far as organisation of tournaments go, many believe Nigeria 2009 has been a fiasco, its only saving grace being the quality of football played by the youngsters from the 24 countries participating. READ STORY

Eaglets remain in Abuja for round of 16

The Eaglets are hoping that the Nigerian crowd would queue behind them after their superlative performance on Friday. After going a goal down early against Argentina in their final Group A game in Bauchi, hosts and titleholders, Nigeria stormed back to win 2–1 to book their place in the knockout stages as section winners. READ STORY

Nigerian supporters club decries fans’ use of vuvuzela

APA - Lagos (Nigeria) The chairman of the All Nigeria Supporters Club, Dr Rafiu Ladipo, has decried the incessant use of plastic trumpets (vuvuzela) by fans cheering teams at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009. Ladipo told journalists on Sunday in Abuja that the use of trumpets during the championship was not approved by the club. "Fans use it at their own discretion,’’ Ladipo said of the noisy trumpets called Vuvuzela and popular among South African football fans. READ STORY

U.S. U-17's On To WC Knockouts

The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team strode confidently into the second round of the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup with a 1-0 victory against United Arab Emirates at Gateway International Stadium in their final match in Group E. Jack McInerney’s first-half strike proved the difference in the USA’s second consecutive shutout in the tournament. McInerney scored his second goal of the tournament off a rebound of a Nick Palodichuk shot in the 35th minute, slotting home inside the left post from six yards out with UAE goalkeeper Ahmed Shambih scrambling to recover. READ STORY

Swiss Coach Happy to Avoid Nigeria

The Switzerland Under-17 Chief Coach, Dany Ryser has said he is happy avoiding Nigeria and the only time he will want to meet the Golden Eaglets will be in the finals of the on-going FIFA U-17 World Cup, Nigeria 2009. While still in shock that his team topped Group B that had power houses like Brazil and Mexico, Ryser said at a post-match conference in Abuja at the weekend that he was happy with the performance of his boys especially defeating Brazil. The defeat was the first by any Swiss team. READ STORY