International > FIFA > World Cup Final: We’llDefeat Mexico Again, Eaglets BoastWorld Cup Final: We’ll Defeat Mexico Again,

Mexico’s U-17 team have been told in a clear
terms that they should forget winning the
2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
In Friday’s final, Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets will
be up against a Mexican team who they
defeated 6-1 in the group stage of the World
Cup taking place in the United Arab Emirate,
UAE. Striker Kelechi Iheanacho was so sure of
what he was saying when he told FIFA.com
that winning the tournament is a bad dream
for Mexico.
Iheanacho who was irresistible in the first
game of Group F, scoring four times in a 6-1
demolition of the holders that seemed to
indicate a title defence was little more than
fantasy.
“I’m sure they won’t feel great about that first
result. They’ll want to put pressure on us and
we’ll have to be careful. We’ll respect them,
but it’s hard to go against us when we’re
playing our good football,” he said.
•BLOCK… Elias Andersson of Sweden (right)
blocks Kelechi Iheanacho of Nigeria from the
ball during their semi-final match in the FIFA
U-17 World Cup in Dubai’s Rashid Stadium,
on 5 November, 2013. Nigeria play Mexico in
Friday’s final. AFP PHOTO
Football is good at offering second chances,
but Iheanacho – near the top of the scorer’s
charts with five of Nigeria’s 23 goals – has
bad news for the revived Mexicans.
“We’ve got better since that opener. We’ve
become closer and we’re going to chase them
all over the field; we’re going to press them
with our attackers and we won’t rest. We’ll go
at them for 90 minutes until we’re sure the
trophy is ours,” said the Imo State-born
player.
In Abdullahi Alfa’s opinion, Mexico won’t
escape being punished again. “We saw them
play before our semi-final, and they looked
strong against Argentina,” said the midfielder.
“We’re hoping for a repeat performance [of the
group match]. In football it’s difficult to make
predictions but, God willing, we’ll beat them
again. Mexico can make all the changes they
want, but it will be the same team we faced in
the group stage,” Alfa