Garba
Lawal, former
Super Eagles' midfielder, has spoken
glowingly about the Golden Eaglets
good run in the 2013 African Under-17 qualifiers, insisting that the
team under
the aegis of coach Manu Garba (MFR) has proved critics wrong.
“You guys have been doing
great and I’m particularly impressed with the standard so far shown by
the
players," stated Lawal, Nigeria’s star performer at the 1998 World Cup
where he scored a superlative goal in the 3-2 victory over Spain."I'm so
happy with what I have seen of the players so far and everybody would
agree
with me that these boys have done well.
The erstwhile coordinator
of the national Under-17 team commended the Golden Eaglets' crew for
blooding talented young players even as he advised the team to be
focussed as they
approach the final qualifying matches against Mali.
“I think the critics would have seen by now that the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) meant well for our football with the
calibre
of players in the team and we can see that these players are about the
youngest
Under-17 team we have in recent years,” Lawal further explained.
“As I
said
before now, we all need to rally behind this team because they are the
future
of Nigerian football and I’m confident that they would eventually
qualify for
the tournament in April.”
Nigeria failed to qualify for the last two editions
of the African Under-17 Championship hosted by Algeria and Rwanda in
2009 and
2011 respectively but Lawal has confidently tipped the present team to
break
the country’s duck.
“All eyes are now on the Golden Eaglets but I’m
certain that they would qualify for the next tournament in Morocco and
be
amongst the contenders. I wish the team the best against Mali,” he
added.
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