These Eaglets will move to Super Eagles — Nigeria's U17 coach declares

Golden Eaglets coach Nduka Ugbade believes his U17 AFCON boys are good enough to go all the way to the Nigeria Super Eagles.

Ugbade made the bold prediction despite watching his Eaglets fail to reach the World Cup after falling to a shocking defeat against Burkina Faso.

Nigeria was no match for its counterparts from Burkina Faso following a painful 2-1 loss in the U17 AFCON quarterfinal on Thursday night.

The Golden Eaglets and their manager were aiming to bring home Nigeria’s third title at the U17 AFCON and also seal a 13th appearance at the World Cup in Algeria.

But they met a bulwark in an Aboubakar Camara-inspired Burkina Faso who ended that dream thanks to a sweet revenge at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.

After the match, despite the disappointment, coach Ugbade painted an optimistic image of what the future holds for his players.

The experienced gaffer has called for more support to help the Eaglets develop as he believes some of them have what it takes to make it to the Super Eagles.

“The players are disappointed of course because they are young but we must support them because they need to continue their careers,” Ugade told CAF Online.

“We should work on their development because I believe that some of these players will eventually move to the senior national team,” he added.

Nigeria has won the FIFA U17 World Cup five times but will not be part of the party in Peru after a disappointing outing in Algeria.