Emmanuel Amunike gets Nigeria Football Federation backing

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has assured the technical crew of the Golden Eaglets led by Emmanuel Amunike of the Federation's continuous backing.

NFF's Technical Committee chairman, Chris Green, gave this assurance during a meeting with the members of the Golden Eaglets technical crew at the Glass House in Abuja.

Green assured them that the Federation is solidly behind them and will continue to back their bid to build a virile team capable of defending the Fifa Under-17 World Cup.

"Frankly, I don't envy your jobs because you cannot afford to fail," Green said while addressing the crew.

                                        

"The truth is that Nigerians expect so much from you because we are the defending champions at this level, you must ensure that only the best players are picked." 

Green added that the NFF deliberately left behind some officials from the 2013 World Cup-winning team for the sake of continuity as such; they must be guided with the benefit of hindsight when selecting the players.

"Some of you were part of the last team and we want you to use such experience in building the new team that Nigerians would be proud of," he added.

In a separate meeting with Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme, NFF's Director Technical and Mr. Siji Lagunju, the Chief Technical Officer of the NFF, the crew were urged to follow the prototype that delivered a record fourth Fifa Under-17 World Cup in 2013, adding that the NFF would do everything to ensure a success campaign.

In response, Amunike reiterated the commitment of his crew to the task at hand, and solicited for the continued support of the Federation and Nigerians at large.

"What we owe the federation is honesty and hard work and we are doing this job without fear or favour of anybody," Amunike said.

"We know the huge expectations of Nigerians and the NFF; and I want to assure you that we are going to give this job our best."

Amuneke is expected to draw a list of players for the next stage of the selection process, and he has assured that only the best players would be picked as the team continue its build up for its second round qualifier against the winner of the first round qualifier between Burundi and Congo in July.

Culled from Kickoffnigeria