Eaglets dig deep to hold Germany

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets waited 54 minutes on Saturday evening before getting into the groove in its opening Group ‘A' match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup against European champions, Germany at the Abuja National Stadium.

Before scoring three times in seven second-half minutes against the ten-man European champions to salvage a point the Eaglets looked out of sorts against a mobile German side, which used pace and technique to punish them.

The German drew the first blood on 22 minutes when sloppy defending freed Lennart Thy to slot in cooly past hapless Dami Paul in goal. The tally increased sixteen minutes later when Shkodran Mustafi found himself with plenty of space in the Eaglets final third and wasted no time in punishing the Eaglets.

The Eaglets predicament was compounded on 47 minutes when Mario Goetzi made it 3-0 for the Germans. At that point it looked like the Eaglets faced an early exit from the tournament they won two years ago in Korea. The problem was compounded by the Nigerian fans, who believing it was all over, started leaving the stadium.

Little Messi steps up

This appeared to be the prodding the Nigerian lads. Heartland FC's Stanley Okoro, known in Nigerian football circles as Little Messi, led the Eaglets charge with incisive runs into the Germans goal area. Move after move came to naught as his team mates either failed to position themselves or fell on the slippery turf made soggy by torrential rains, which had forced the match to start 30 minutes behind schedule.

The Eaglets efforts paid off in the 53^rd minute when striker Omo Ajabu, who had waltzed into the Germans goal area was fouled by Drobert Labus. Referee, Ravshan Irmatov, from Uzbekistan signalled a penalty and promptly handed Labus a red card. One minute Okoro stepped up and cooly slotted the ball past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in goal against the Germans.

Reduced to ten men, the Germans found it difficult to respond to the onslaught of the Eaglets, who mounted sustained pressure on their opponents. 54 minute into the match, Kenneth Omeruo finding himself with some space in the German final third nodded home a cross from Stanley Okoro.

The 2007 champions drew level on 61 minutes when Edafe Egbedi rifled home a rebound following careless defending by the Germans. The Eaglets, who continued to press the Germans nearly, grabbed a winner in the 86^th minute but Ojabu's volley grazed the crossbar. The outcome however, must surely be comforting for coach Obuh who had cut a sad figure watching his boys concede three quick goals on the opening day of a tournament in which billions of tax payers' funds had been sunk.

The Eaglets next face Honduras on Tuesday, which went down 1-0 to Argentina in a match played earlier at the same venue. In Lagos, South American champions, Brazil, beat hard-fighting Japan 3-2 in the second match of Group B. The match came on the hells of the Switzerland-Mexico match, which ended 2-0 in favour of the Europeans.