THE Golden Eaglets of Nigerian have, once again, proved that Nigeria is the undisputed king of world youth football.

The U-17 world youth championship team on Friday November 8th 2013 at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) walloped their counterparts, Mexico by 3 goals to nil, thus lifting the trophy for a record fourth time. It was the latest of such feats, which started in 1985 during the maiden edition of the tournament in China. The valiant Nigerian youth also followed up by winning the 1993 and 2007 tournaments.

The unique attribute of the team assembled by Coach Garba Manu, was that every effort was made to ensure that only very young men who have not tasted professional football were included in the team. Manu and his technical crew went round the country’s many football academies and schools and selected a crop of young, talented lads confirmed to be well within the age range by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology.

The advantage of this was that the flawless talent, raw fighting spirit and hunger for achievement drove the lads from the first blast of the whistle. By the time the deed was done, the Eaglets not only won the cup but also defeated the defending champions, Mexico twice and set a new record of twenty six goals to consign Germany’s former record of twenty four goals to the dustbin of history.

We join millions of ecstatic soccer loving Nigerians to applaud the coach for putting performance above politics in selecting the team. We have always advocated that the nation will be the better for it when the right kind of people are put on the job without settling for nepotism, political consideration or kowtowing to the interference of people in high places.

We also give kudos to the young men for doing their nation proud. Already, they are reaping the benefits of their contributions as the nation, through President Goodluck Jonathan, has given them national honours and a generous handshake to the tune of two million naira for each player. Some of them are already on their way to an early start in rewarding professional football outside the country.

We hope that the authorities will regard this crop of players as a great future treasure trove from which to tap in bringing back the golden age of Nigeria’s soccer at the highest level. It is important for the nation to be attentive and help in focusing these boys to both their educational and professional careers to give them a life of fulfillment and more services to a country that eagerly yells for more laurels.

Once again, congratulations, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria!