Eaglets draw New Zealand for second round

Nigeria's Golden Eaglets will be coming up against New Zealand in the round of 16 of the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup. The match is one of four second round encounters scheduled for Thursday - four other games will take place on Wednesday - at the National Stadium in Abuja. The match is expected to kickoff at 7pm local time.

It's a first ever meeting between both sides at the FIFA U-17 World Cup and whoever ends up victorious at the end of Thursday's match will advance to the quarter finals to face the the winner of the second round match between Mexico and South Korea at the U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar.

To get to the second round of the tournament, the Golden Eaglets finished top of Group A with seven points from three matches. But they began the championship on a rather unimpressive note with a three-all draw against Germany on the opening day of the championship in a match that saw John Obuh's team coming from three goals down to pull a draw against the European champions at the National Stadium, Abuja.

Three days later, the Eaglets defeated Honduras by a lone goal, also in Abuja, before finishing the first round with a 2-1 victory over Argentina last Friday at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi. The Eaglets had to come from behind to win yet again after going down to an Argentinean goal as early as the second minute of the encounter.

Incredible Kiwis

For their part, the New Zealanders, who still hold the unenviable record for the heaviest defeat at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, a 13-0 loss to Spain at the 1997 tournament in Egypt, have been one of the revelations of the championship and surprised everyone, probably even themselves, by booking a passage to the knockout rounds from a first round group that also had the trio of Turkey, Burkina Faso and Costa Rica - all teams with better footballing tradition than the Kiwis.

But three consecutive draws, all ending 1-1, against Costa Rica, Burkina Faso and Turkey - the draw against the latter made possible thanks to a resolute spirit and a late wonder strike from 40 yards out by Jack Hobson-McVeigh - ensured a historic knockout round qualification for the islanders; the first ever by a side from New Zealand at a FIFA competition.

"The ball came to me I controlled it well enough, dropped my shoulder as a defender approached, took a touch and as soon as I hit the ball I just had this feeling that it's definitely going in," said the English-born,

Auckland-raised midfielder in a chat with fifa.com. "If I take that shot 100 times, I'll never hit it that sweetly. I was celebrating before I saw the net bulge.

"It's great to be part of history, and the best feeling to score the goal. Everyone is still buzzing today (Sunday). It was amazing at the end celebrating, with cameras there, it was like we had won the World Cup. But every game just gets bigger and bigger now." For the Kiwis, the games don't come any bigger than a tie against three-time champions Nigeria, but the team's handler, Steve Cain insists his players are ready for just about any side in the tournament.

"We're looking forward to playing a group winner," said Cain to fifa.com. "My boys will learn a lot from an occasion like that. And I'll tell you one other thing, whoever we play they won't have it easy. We won't lie down for anyone. We're ready."

Sixteen in, eight out

At the end of the first round, a total of 16 teams are through to the second round while eight others are on their way home.

Besides Nigeria and New Zealand, other teams that made it through to the second round are Argentina, Turkey, Switzerland, Iran, Mexico, Colombia, Burkina Faso, South Korea, Italy, Uruguay, Spain and Germany.

Also through are the UAE and USA, who both confirmed their places in the second round despite the final outcome of their encounter in Ijebu Ode.

The Group E encounter, which took place at the Gateway International Stadium - the first game of this year's championship to be played at the venue - ended in a 1-0 victory for the Americans with the only goal of the match arriving in the 35th minute of play courtesy of Jack McInerney who was on hand to slot the ball into the net after UAE goalkeeper Ahmad Shambih could only parry Nick Palodichuk's shot onto Mcinerney's path.

The UAE had the better of the opening exchanges and came close to grabbing the game's opening goal when Mohamed Hussain edged three defenders before shooting just wide of the goal. But after the half-hour mark, it was the Americans who dictated the direction of play and deservedly took the lead shortly after. They then held on to the end of the game.