Olalekan
Adetayo and Idris Adesina
President
Muhammadu Buhari on Monday congratulated the Golden Eaglets on their 2-0
victory over Mali in the final match of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup held in
Chile. He has also assured them of heroes welcome.
The
President through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Femi Adesina, applauded what he called “the exemplary zeal, determination,
commitment, hard work, patriotism and soccer artistry” which the Eaglets displayed
throughout to win the championship for a record fifth time.
The
statement read in part, “The President believes that by their triumph in Chile,
the Eaglets have shown the world that the indomitable Nigerian spirit is alive
and waxing stronger.
“For the
President, the Golden Eaglets’ latest victory on the global stage is an
affirmation of the significant progress Nigeria is now making towards
positively redefining and rediscovering its potential for greatness in the
comity of nations.
“The
President joins other proud Nigerians in awaiting the Golden Eaglets triumphant
return to a heroes’ welcome from a joyous and grateful nation.”
Meanwhile,
amidst reports that foreign clubs are seeking the signature of striker Victor
Osimhen, former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, has warned the
17-year-old to take his time and avoid rushing into signing any contract with
any of the clubs.
The
Eaglets scored 23 goals in seven matches and Osimhen scored 10 of them to
emerge the tournament’s highest goalscorer.
The
Ultimate Strikers Academy player, who also won the Adidas Silver Ball of the
tournament, also became the highest scorer in the history of the U-17 World Cup
with his 10 goals surpassing the nine scored by Frenchman Sinama Pongolle and
Souleymane Coulibaly of Ivory Coast in 2001 and 2011 respectively.
Tottenham
Hotspurs are reportedly leading the chase for the youngster after his
performance at the tournament but Onigbinde, who spoke with our correspondent
on Monday, warned Osimhen to be careful about his choice.
“Players
at this stage of their careers need to be careful and need lots of advice from
people close to them about the choices they make,” Onigbinde said.
“Osimhen
should be careful and avoid rushing to just any club that comes his way. He
should understand what each club has to offer before making his choices. He
should be sincere and learn from the mistakes of those before him.
“Many
players like that have shone at the U-17 level and failed to make it after
then. When they get to the various clubs that sign them, many discoveries are
made and they just fritter away and are unheard of.
“If he is
sincere to himself and is careful of his choices, he will have a good career.”
Onigbinde
added that winning the U-17 title should not be over celebrated, but advised
that the win should serve as an eye-opener to solving the country’s football
challenges.
He said,
“I, like every patriotic Nigerian, congratulate the team on their victory in
Chile but it should not be overdone because we need to plan ahead for these set
of boys so that they will not end up like the others that have gone before
them.
“We have
won the competition four times before this but how many of the players from
those years grew into the national team?”
Copyright
PUNCH.
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