Golden Eaglets qualification for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile has been attributed to determination, team work and self belief.

Coach Emmanuel Amuneke, who oversaw a 3-1 win over Zambia on Saturday at the Stade Municipal to ease Nigeria into the semi-finals and guarantee a place at the World Cup, said that his team had to dig deep to get the result.

Amuneke

“The win was not easy at all. We had to work had for it and I’m glad we eventually did.

“It was a team effort, a collective effort, we were determined to make sure we achieve our objectives and we finally did.

“The main objective of coming here (Niger) was to qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile 2015 which we did.

“I’d say congratulations to the boys and Nigeria as a whole. It’s a victory for everyone in the country,” he said.

Amunike also reiterated that his team is still evolving and more work has to be done to get the team in a much better shape when the knock out stages commences.

Nigeria, who topped Group A of the 11th Caf Africa Junior Championship with seven points from three games, will meet any of South Africa, Mali or Ivory Coast from Group B in the semi-finals.

The former FC Barcelona player says his team has no preference to any team in the semis but will rather concentrate on his own team and put his players in the right shape for the knock-out stage.

“No, I don’t fear any team or prefer to meet any. Our major concern now is to make sure the boys are refreshed and ready for the semi-finals,” Amunike told supersport.com

“Despite our qualifications, there are areas we need to still work on and players to get back to full fitness from the knocks they suffered in the group stages.

“If you want to win the cup, you have to beat the team in front of you. That is the only way to become champions. We are not afraid of anybody, but we also respect our opponents,” he added.