• Golden Eaglets line up at the African Youth Championship in Togo Pix: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

The recent loss of the Eaglets in the final of the 8-Nation Invitational tournament to Brazil which just ended in South Korea, has been blamed on hard luck.

The former Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Secretary General and the current Chairman of the Technical Committee of the football house, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, gave this verdict while reacting on the just concluded invitational.

Ogunjobi praised the team for doing well despite not being there on time, as some other countries invited arrived the tournament venue earlier than the Eaglets.

He said the Eaglets played better than the Brazilians in all departments of the game, adding that the South Americans had to struggle from behind to equalize three minutes to the end of the game.

“We were unlucky as we lost to the Brazilians on penalties,” Ogunjobi said. “We lost two of our shoot outs, while they lost one.
“We played very well. The boys out played the Brazilians in all the departments of the game, as they (Brazilians) had to come from behind to equalize three minutes to the end of the game.

“Generally, I will say the team did exceptionally well, though they may not have been perfect, I am very proud of them not because they reach the final of the tournament, but for the fact that they played very well, I am pleased with their performance.”
Meanwhile, Ogunjobi, who led the contingent to South Korea said the Chief Coach of the team, Yemi Tella, who didn’t come back with the team due to ill health was responding to treatment.

However, he expressed confidence that Tella would soon rejoin us. When asked to tell Nigerians the type of sickness the coach was suffering from, he declined, saying that he was not a medical doctor.
“Yes, Coach Yemi Tella is responding very well to treatment.

“I actually do not know what he is suffering from as I am not a medical doctor, so I can’t know the type of sickness he is suffering from, but all I can say is that he is responding positively to treatment.”