Emmanuel Amunike's side seem to have perfected the art of starting slowly, before blowing opponents away. Brazil were the latest to be rope-a-doped in the U-17 World Cup. Almost as distinct a feature of Chilean topography as the rising Andes that shears it from neighbours Argentina, is the figure of a jubilant Victor Osimhen.
U17-World Cup: Knockouts the real test for Eaglets.
There was just the one goal for him on Sunday against Brazil, and the tight little fist pump from Emmanuel Amunike underlined how crucial the timing was.
The Golden Eaglets have been dominant all through the tournament – barring the 2-1 Croatia defeat – but have quirkily only started one game on the front foot.
They rolled over the hosts 5-1 when Samuel Chukwueze score inside the first two minutes, and then the score stayed at a nervy 2-0 until the last half-hour.
In all others, they have given the opposition a bit of room to work in at the start, a tantalizing peep of thigh before snatching the hem down, mild bemusement at the nerve to attempt to reach out and touch. It would really be a challenge for a team to take them up on it and get an early goal for once, if only to see what might result.
Brazil were clearly the quicker to settle, and might have gone ahead had Akpan Udoh been less attentive in the Nigerian goal. His strong left hand to kill a shot from Evander, after John Lazarus had missed a low fizzing cross into the box, was almost Buffon-esque. This team often has the feel of an accordion, the left and right manuals Osimhen and Udoh, contracting in defence and expanding in attack, with midfield bellows in-between activated in pressure and tension, aggressively funnelling play away from the centre.
Naturally, it was Osimhen who rose highest to meet a flighted delivery and score via a deflection. Eight for the tournament, and having scored in every game, Florent Sinama-Pongolle’s record of nine looks eminently beatable right now. Osimhen will also hope that is the only context within which his name will be mentioned alongside the former Liverpool and Atletico Madrid forward, whose early promise never materialised!
Osimhen | Eyeing a 14-year record
The timing of the goal could not have been better: Brazil’s initial wave of pressure had slowed, their fervour cooled as Amunike’s men tightened the screw in midfield. With each man in yellow watched with eagle eyes, the Selecao’s ball circulation was bogged down in a swamp of green. Scoring just then, with the Brazilians seemingly having punched themselves out already, drove the air out of canary lungs.
The five minutes that followed produced two more goals of almost insulting simplicity, from Kinsley Michael materialising unmarked in the box to volley Osimhen’s hooked pass via the turf, to Udochukwu Anumudu’s speculative tame effort from a long way out befuddling Juliano in the Brazil goal.
Rather than create outright, the emphasis seemed to be on provoking mistakes and, unsurprisingly for a team that seems to lack outright creativity through the middle, it may indeed be the approach that yields the greatest reward for the Golden Eaglets. Brazil finished the game with a greater share of the possession; as beleaguered Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho frequently avers, the team with the ball is more prone to mistakes.
Nigeria's aggregate score during the U-17 World Cup is 17-3
Indeed, there is no team better in Chile at punishing errors, isolating weakness and latching onto it like snarling wolves. Osimhen, hunter-in-chief and leader of the pack, all lithe limbs and cold menace, is the ultimate predator.
Two games stand between Nigeria and a fifth U-17 title which, upon attaining, will almost certainly animate Amunike’s stony inscrutability into a smile. All constant self-awareness, and insistence on muted celebration on the bench, he withholds approbation just long enough to coax another goal and keep the team grounded.
His forbidding severity in the dugout is particularly fascinating, and perhaps it is the right approach for a team that looks like it can
