Photos: Nigeria's Golden Eaglets Beat Mexico3 - 0 To Win FIFA U-17 World Cup

A few minutes ago, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria beat their
Mexican counterparts by 3 unreplied goals in the FIFA U-17
World Cup. Nigeria Golden Eaglets became the most
successful team in FIFA U-17 World Cup history with a 3-0
win over holders Mexico at the Mohammad Bin Zayed
Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Read more after the break
The final was a rematch of the 6-1 win Nigeria inflicted on
the Mexicans in Group F play and sees the Golden Eaglets
lay hands on the junior world trophy for the fourth time in
their history, one better than South American giants
Brazil. Mexico kept the ball for a full two minutes at the
start of the game, moving it around well and making the
Nigerians chase. El Tri even managed the first chance on
goal after six minutes. Osvaldo Rodriguez crossed from the
left, but Alejandro Diaz couldn't keep his close-range effort
the right side of the post.
Two minutes on and Ivan Ochoa – who scored twice in the
semi-final win over Argentina – saw his off-balance header
pushed over the bar by Dele Alampasu. The corner came to
nothing for the Mexicans, but Nigeria benefitted greatly by
bursting out on a classic counter-attack.
Kelechi Iheanacho
went flying up the pitch. With just one Mexican defender in
position, the No10 Golden Eaglet laid the ball in for Taiwo
Awoniyi who then fed it on to Musa Yahaha, who had a
little help from Erick Aguirre. The Mexican midfielder
mistakenly hit the ball into his own net in an attempt to
recover. With the score 1-0, Musa Muhammed was giving
the Mexicans fits with his rampaging runs up the right side.
He pinned the opponents back at every opportunity. As the
first half pushed toward the interval, the Africans upped
their tempo in search of a second goal.
Yahaya rattled the
crossbar with a stunning effort from 20 yards out after 38
minutes. Pressure was mounting and the fans in the stands
were on their feet when Awoniyi's bicycle-kick from the
penalty spot forced Raul Gudino into a magnificent reaction
save in the dying moments of the half. The second period
began with a frenzy of attacks at both ends of the pitch, but
it was Nigeria who made theirs count, making it 2-0 in the
56th minute.
Captain Muhammed unleashed a wicked swirling shot that
Mexican keeper Gudino simply couldn't hang on to. He
spilled a rebound directly to the feet of the most dangerous
man on the pitch, and Iheanacho made no mistake
dispatching his sixth goal of the tournament.
With a quarter-hour to go, Mexico managed to carve out a
rare second-half chance, but Ochoa's header from close-
range slipped wide of the post as the holders began to wilt
under the ceaseless pressure of the buzzing Nigerians.
Muhammed added a third with ten minutes to go, curling a
sublime free-kick into the top corner.
Anyone in UAE who
had the pleasure to see them will tell you that this Nigerian
team were the best on offer. Even a few of the Mexican
fans were mumbling "yes, yes, yes" when the final whistle
went on Nigeria's glorious campaign here in UAE. Nigeria's
Iheanacho went on to win the Silver boot with 6 goals in
the tournament and the golden ball for the most valuable
player of the tournament. The golden glove award was won
by the Nigerian shot stopper - Dele Alampasu. Congrats,
golden Eaglets.

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