Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday had a live telephone conversation with players and officials of the country’s U17 team,...
Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday had a live telephone conversation with players and
officials of the country’s U17 team, the Golden Eaglets, ahead of a FIFA U17
World Cup final against Mali in Chile.
The live conversation was at the instance of
NFF president Amaju Pinnick.
PMB, who was Military
Head of State 30 years ago when Nigeria won the inaugural FIFA cadet World Cup
in China, and actually gave the team the sobriquet ‘Golden Eaglets,’ tasked the
players to win the Cup again and make the country proud.
The President, in
chat with players and officials of the team via Skype aided with telephone,
said Nigerians were behind them and expect that they will bring the trophy home
yet again.
His Excellency took
his turn to speak with each and every player and official, thanking them for a
job well done so far and urging them to do everything humanly possible to
emerge victorious (against Mali) in order to set Nigeria on the path of glory.
Golden Eaglets coach
Emmanuel Amuneke and captain Kelechi Nwakali assured Mr. President that the
entire team were ready for the final against their West African rivals, and
promised to give everything needed to win the trophy in order to “bring smiles
to the faces of our people.”
President Muhammadu Buhari in Skype call with #GoldenEaglets as they prepare for #U17WC201… https://t.co/VVpfPdzMFW pic.twitter.com/RDay5pqrOZ
— Colin NOT Collins (@ColinUdoh) November 7, 2015
Amuneke said: “It is
a great pleasure speaking with you, Mr. President, and we want to assure you
that we are going to do our best against Mali on Sunday to successfully defend
the trophy.”
The session ended
with a soul-lifting rendition of the National Anthem together with Mr.
President.
