No Iraq shock for Nigeria –Eaglets

Golden Eaglets players celebrating

Nigeria  captain Musa  Muhammed says the Golden Eaglets will respond from their 3-3 draw against Sweden in their UAE 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Group F  match on Tuesday by beating Iraq on Friday to reach the Round of 16.

 The Nigerians had to come from behind to share the spoils with the Swedes  in  the  pulsating encounter at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain City. The outcome of the encounter and  Mexico’s  3-1 defeat of  Iraq in the other group  fixture ensured that second round  berths will be secured on Friday.

 And Musa   is backing the Eaglets to seal their place in the next round, saying there will be no shock result in the clash against Iraq, who are out of the race after losing their two games.

He regretted the defensive problems that saw Nigeria battling  back  to stop Sweden from being the first team in the group to go through on six points. The Europeans beat Iraq 4-1 in the opening game on Saturday.

“We  are not happy that we didn’t get the maximum points against Sweden but Nigerians would see a good response from us against Iraq,” Musa  said on Wednesday.

“We know how important the  encounter  against Iraq is and we are going to give it our best effort because we don’t want to disappoint Nigerians.

“We were told before the match against Sweden that President (Goodluck) Jonathan and  many people in government watched on TV  and I want to use this opportunity to thank them for their support.”

Meanwhile, coach Manu Garba is confident injured Success Isaac will play again in the tournament.

Success limped off the pitch with a hamstring injury after scoring against Sweden.

“We can’t rule him out completely because the medical crew are  paying close attention to his situation,” Manu said.

“Hopefully he will  be okay in the later stages of the competition.”

Iraq  coach  Muwafaq Adlool   had dismissed the Eaglets as a side made up of individual talents, saying  he  had identified  their   weaknesses and  would capitalise on them  for victory on Friday,  but Manu said he wasn’t bothered.

He said, “The  Iraqs will  live to tell the story. What we play is total football and everyone can see from our two matches that we dominated the match by gaining better possession and we shall continue to do our best.”