The Nigeria national U-17 team has won a lot of admirers during the World Cup in the UAE with their swashbuckling style of play
Former Super Eagles captain, Sunday Oliseh is in the UAE watching the Fifa U-17 World Cup as a member of the Technical Study Group (TSG), and the Golden Eaglets that just qualified for the final by beating Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday have impressed him.
He acknowledged that the level of the competition has been high been particularly impressed with the level of discipline of all the teams.
“The level is high,” Oliseh told fifa.com. “What’s particularly stood out for me is the way that most sides really play as a team. Every player is disciplined in their position. That’s unusual in this age category and is a positive development.”
He also said he hasd been particularly impressed by the Nigerian side. “The boys are extremely motivated but above all they’re very disciplined, which is very refreshing to see. They have a lot of good individual players.
“The way the side switches from defence to attack is very good, frequently with one-touch passes.
“That’s difficult to do as it requires a lot of movement, foresight and for all the players to support each other,” he added.
The Golden Eaglets have scored 23 goals en route the final, conceding just five – they have conceded just one goal in the competition after the group stage and beat Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday – an opponent they had forced to a 3-3 result in their first meeting.
But Oliseh will not state categorically that the Eaglets will be world champions for the fourth time on Friday as they face Mexico, whom they beat 6-1 in their opening group game.
“Of course it’d be fantastic if Nigeria become world champions. They certainly have the quality to do so, but in football you never know what might happen,” he concluded.