Adams Mouktar, the Federal Capital Territory Football Association Chairman, has described Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets win over Ghana’s Starlets as a reflection of their mentality to win matches.
Mouktar stated this in an interview with Newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.
Nigeria defeat of the hosts Ghana 3-2 at the WAFU B U17 Championship on Tuesday.
The WAFU U-17 Championship took place at the University of Accra Stadium in Ghana.
He said, “We are a country that always wants to Win! We must always have that mindset and mentality 100 per cent.”
Mouktar said he was worried over the defeat of the Eaglets by the Baby Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire at the semi-final.
He told Newsmen that the defeat “was a devastating situation to all football enthusiasts”.
“It is devastating if at this grassroot level we miss out in giving our next generation the talents to prove themselves and make the next leap to U20, U23 and Super Eagles.
“It will send a message that we are on the decline and definitely not doing things right. This is the platform we develop the pool for the future and higher national teams.
“I am sure when the team is back there will be a review and report by the coaches and technical department.
“This will be very helpful as that will enable loopholes to be worked on.”
The Golden Eaglets played with a winner’s mentality and took the lead in the ninth minute when Imrana Muhammad scored the first goal.
But the Black Starlets equalised 10 minutes later from an own-goal by a Nigerian defender.
In the 27th minutes of the game, Harve Gbafa profited from a defensive blunder to beat goalkeeper Dominic Chinedu and gave Ghana a lead for the first time.
The Eaglets were unrelenting, and four minutes before half-time, Adeleke nodded in the equaliser from a pull-out by John Ogwuche.
Both teams started the second period from where they left off at half time, with delightful attacking football.
In the second minute of added time, Adeleke scored his brace and wining goal for Nigeria.
There has been worries on the number of teams that will proceed to the 2025 Africa U17 Cup of Nations from the tournament in Ghana.
The worries were laid to rest in a statement on Tuesday by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) through its spokesperson, Ademola Olajire.
According to the statement made available to Newsmen the Eaglets have not qualified for the U17 AFCON in spite of their triumph over the Starlets.
It stated that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had insisted on a 12-team final tournament
”The Confederation of African Football has clarified that next year’s Africa U17 Cup of Nations will still have 12 finalists in attendance, as against the minimum of 16 teams being projected by African football enthusiasts.
”This means that despite defeating host nation Ghana in Tuesday’s third-place match of the WAFU B U17 Championship, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have not qualified for the finals.
”The final tournament will still have 12 teams,” the statement said CAF’s Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu, made this known to thenff.com.
It further stated that expectations had been high among African football aficionados that the 2025 Africa U17 Cup of Nations would be expanded.
It added that the world football governing body, FIFA’s had, at its Congress in Bangkok, allocated 10 slots to the continent for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup that Qatar has been designated to host.
Qatar will host five consecutive FIFA U17 World Cup finals beginning next year, each having 48 teams in attendance.
