Golden Eaglets Coach promises victory against Iraq Nigeria could top Group F if they defeat Iraq on Friday. Golden Eaglets Head Coach, Manu Garba, has confidently declared that his team will defeat their Iraqi counterparts in Friday’s Group F clash at the Al Rashid Stadium in Dubai. Though the Eaglets were stretched to the limit and had to work their skins out to secure 3-3 draw in their last game against Sweden, the Nigeria coach believes his players would surely deliver the goods as they battle the Iraqis to stay top of their Group. Speaking at the official match conference held at the stadium’s Media Centre on Thursday, Manu said the Golden Eaglets are battle ready for the Iraqis who are seeking their first win in the history of the competition. “We have no other way than to win our game against Iraq and Insha Allah (by the grace of Allah), we are going to win,” Manu said. “We respect Iraq but we are going to do everything in our capacity to win this match because our objective is to do very well at this championship.” Manu also dismissed the impression that the Golden Eaglets often struggle against stronger oppositions as it happened against a stoic Swedish side on Wednesday and not forgetting the loss to Cote d’Ivoire at the African Under-17 in Morocco last April. “You judge a team with the amount of chances it creates and I disagree with the impression that we struggle against well organised teams,” he maintained. “We always do our best and even at the CAN Under-17, we scored 18 goals compared with Cote d’Ivoire that scored five goals.” Talking specifically about scoring goals, Manu said he has in his arsenal several players who can fill the void created following the loss of star striker, Isaac Success, to injury, adding that the team would cope well despite the obvious setback. Meanwhile, Italian referee, Gianluca Rocchi, would be in charge of the Nigeria Iraq fixture. He would be assisted by Elenito Di Liberato and Gianluca Cariolato; the fourth official is Ken Hansen from Denmark.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 06:05:33 +0000