Mexico seek to stop Eaglets

Nigeria and Mexico are no strangers to each other at the Under-17 level, having met three times in the history of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. As they meet in the semi-finals of the Chile 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup on Thursday, the North Americans will be out

to avenge their two defeats against Nigeria in the tournament.

The Golden Eaglets have defeated the Junior El Tri two times, with the two coming at the 2013 edition of the competition in the United Arab Emirates, where they beat them 6-1 in the group stages and 3-0 in the final. The only victory for Mexico was a 1-0 win in the group phase of the 1987 edition in Canada.

Defending champions Nigeria have never failed to advance from the semi-finals. They have done so seven times. They have either placed second or moved on to win the title. Mexico will seek to stop that, having scored 10 goals and conceded just two to reach the semi-finals.

Mexico coach, Arteaga Mario, believes his team will have an uphill task stopping the Eaglets.

“Nigeria are a very good team and we will prepare ourselves better to face their excellent attack,” he said on FIFA.com.

Former internationals, Joe Erico and Mutiu Adepoju, have warned the Eaglets not to underestimate their opponents.

“The Eaglets have a good thing going for them so far in this tournament, which is teamwork. They should work harder,” Erico told our correspondent.

Football Academy manager Adepoju urged the Eaglets to keep it tight at the back.

He said, “When they lost concentration at the back against Croatia, they were punished. They cannot afford to repeat the same mistake against Mexico.”

Meanwhile, Sunshine Stars went goals crazy on Wednesday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos as they thrashed Rangers 5-1. The match was a rescheduled Glo Premier League Week 34 game.

The win steadied the Akure team as fifth in the league table with 56 points from 35 matches. But more remarkably, securing the three points from their new home has kept alive their dream of getting a continental ticket as the league enters the final lap.

Cameroonian import, Tamen Medrano, opened the scoring when he converted from the spot in the 35th minute after Rangers captain Okey Odita handled the ball in the box, which also led to his sending off. And 16 minutes later, Tunde Adeniji doubled the lead, with Kehinde Adedipe making it three after a getting a pass from Adeniji. But the goals were unending as Dayo Ojo made it 4-0. Adeniji completed a brace in the 80th minute to make it 5-0, before substitute Razak Adegbite scored a consolation goal for Rangers in the 85th minute.

In Nnewi, IfeanyiUbah beat El-Kanemi Warriors 2-1 in another rescheduled game. FC Taraba and Nasarawa United played a goalless draw when the remaining nine minutes of their suspended week 35 game was completed in Abuja.

PUNCH NG