Golden Eaglets’ Assistant Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has expressed joy
at his team’s 5-1 spanking of Diamond Stars Academy FC in a friendly at
St Patrick’s College, Ikot Ansa, Calabar on Wednesday.
The national U-17 team is currently camped in Calabar, ahead of the
2013 CAF U-17 qualifier against Niger Republic in September, this year.
The friendly match against Diamond Stars was the Eaglets’ first
training match since resumption last week in Calabar, for their second
closed camping.
Diamond Stars won the Cross River State Governor’s Cup in 2010.
Amuneke said on Wednesday after the friendly that although the match,
against a grassroots team, was part of other friendlies lined up to
fine-tune the Eaglets for the qualifier.
“It is about time the players begin to assume responsibilities on the
pitch and we are encouraged that they are executing some of the things
we are teaching them.
“This is our first game but the players are gradually getting back
into their groove which is a good thing to see,’’ Amuneke, the 1994
African Footballer of the Year, said.
Kelechi Iheanacho was easily the man-of-the-match, which was played
under the rain.
Iheanacho combined beautifully with Isaac Success in the attack as
the Eaglets scored their opening goal through Ifeanyi Matthew in the
12th minute, while Ahmed Umar made it two in the 27th minute.
Undaunted, Diamond Stars later reduced the tally through a header by
Peter Hen in the 41st minute to end the first half.
In the second half, Diamond Stars squandered another opportunity of
scoring an equalizer almost immediately after losing a penalty.
Eaglets’ Wilfred Ndidi headed home a pin-point corner kick from
Iheanacho in the 57th minute, while Success scored the fourth off a pass
from Friday Njengo in the 60th minute.
Both Gilmond Lukman of Stoke City and Oluwaseun Jegede of Aspire
Academy in Qatar came in as replacements for Umar and Iheanacho
respectively, in the dying minutes of the second half.
Substitute Jegede completed the routing as he scrambled the ball into
the net few minutes towards regulation time, to end the match at 5-1 in
favour of Golden Eaglets.
FIFA Grade 1 Referee, Akwa Robbe, took charge of the match.
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