Golden Eaglets coach Amoo: How our tactics worked against Burkina Faso

GOLDEN Eaglets head coach Fatai Amoo has described in detail how he nullified Burkina Faso’s threat and led his team to the final of the West African Football Union  U-17 tournament.

The Nigerian youngsters defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 in the first semi-final of the tournament in Lome, Togo on Friday and will face Cote d’Ivoire in the final.

Amoo admitted that prior knowledge of what to expect from the Burkinabes helped in his tactical plans.

“We had the opportunity to see one or two of their games: the ones against Benin, and against Niger Republic,” the former Julius Berger coach said during his post-match press conference.

“And we studied it very well. They’re very good from the flanks, making good crosses, with good players who can head the ball very well. They also have a very good midfield combination play and we had to work on all that with our defenders and that’s exactly what we did. 

“And we were able to keep them away from heading the ball and shooting across our goal.”

Amoo acknowledged the toughness of his side’s opponents and narrated how he motivated his team to beat the Group A winners.

Burkina Faso had comfortably won their group while Nigeria barely squeezed through to the semi-finals, needing a favour from Cote d’Ivoire.

“We want to appreciate our opponents today, Burkina Faso’s young boys,” Amoo said.

“Before the game I knew they really had the players to win this game. We motivated our boys, we told them ‘you’re improving, go there, we believe you can do it and try your best possible’.

“They did that and won the game.”

With Friday’s win, five-time world U-17 champions Golden Eaglets also earned a spot in the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco in July.