winning our first game was important to us- Emmanuel Amunike

Tomiwa Babalola

Golden Eaglets head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has praised the nation's national U-17 team after winning their first game at the ongoing Caf African U17 Championship in Niamey on Sunday.

Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Nwakali scored in each side to give the Eaglets victory Niger as the competition commenced in earnest.

Amunike said that the host are a good side but they needed to up their game to go far in the tournament.

“The most important thing in football today is to win. It was important for us to win our first game,” Amuneke told Cafonline.com

“We took our chances and defended well. Now we have to see how we can grow from strength to strength.

“Credit to Niger because they are a good side and I would only urge them to keep working hard.”

The Nigerian trainer also spoke about the importance of testing for accurate age of players to ensure the competition is fair.

“I would also like to commend Caf and Fifa for the MRI scans for these age group tournaments because this is hugely advancing African football and it's so exciting to see the future players of African football doing very well at this stage,” he said.

Opposite number coach Francisco Castano Benito said his team has a lot more to do ahead of their next game.

“Today, we did not play very well as a team. We made a lot of mistakes both when we had the ball and even when we didn’t have the ball. Our next game will be very difficult but we need to do well,” said Benito.

“We will need confidence in the next game against Zambia. We will continue to work hard and we must try to work and play without pressure. We have to be free of pressure and enjoy the games for us to go further.”

Nigeria will take on Guinea in their next game on Wednesday. Guinea defeated Zambia 1-0 in the second Group A game on Sunday. Goal