AMUNEKE HAILS ACE AFTER HOLDING EAGLETS

Golden Eaglets' Head Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, says he is gradually having a clearer picture of what his team would look like at the 11th African U-17 Championship, Niger 2015, after Ace Football Academy of Kaduna forced his wards to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project in Abuja.

Christian Charles gave the Golden Eaglets a first half lead when he converted a penalty after Suleiman Muhammed 's goal-bound shot was handled in the box by Ace's captain, Hassan; Hassan later brought both sides on equal terms in the second half as he nodded home a corner kick beyond Eaglets' goalkeeper, Amos Benjamin.

The Golden Ealets line-up

The Golden Eaglets actually started with a possible line up complete with many youngsters recruited from the national Under-15 team but it was there for all to see that some still need some catch up days leading to the team's opening match against host (Niger) at the

forthcoming Niger 2015.

"I intentionally started this match with many of our fringe players in order to see how they can collectively cope," Amuneke said afterwards.

"But Ace really gave us a good test and we can now judge some of these youngsters better."

Ace dominated the first stanza of the match losing several opportunities, the Golden Eaglets played better towards the end of match following the introduction of tried and tested legs.

"I think Ace was better than us especially in the first half but we are not discouraged about the performance of some of our players," added Amuneke. 

"Now, we are gradually having a clearer picture of what our team would look like in Niger."

Niger 2015, the 11th African U-17 Championship would be held in Niamey between February 15 and March 1st. The Golden Eaglets are drawn in Group A along with host, Niger Rep, Guinea and Zambia. Nigeria and their northern neighbour, Niger, would play the championship's opening fixture of February 15 at the Stade Général Seyni Kountché (SGSK) multi-purpose stadium.

Enitan Obadina

@enitanoba