The Board of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has re-appointed former Under-17 FIFA World Cup winner Manu Garba as Head Coach of the Nigeria Under-17 boys, Golden Eaglets.
In the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) youth tournament, Nigeria’s U-17 boys under the guidance of Nduka Ugbade could not impress, dashing their 2024 FIFA U-17 World Cup dreams.
As a result, Ugbade stepped down from his role as the head coach, which made the U-17 coaching role vacant.
Garba had, in the same role, led the Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA U17 World Cup for Nigeria in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2013 – Nigeria’s fourth triumph at that stage.
Garba’s world-conquering squad in 2013 included Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success, Musa Mohammed, Chidiebere Nwakali and goalkeeper Dele Alampasu.
The squad, which finished as runners-up at the African U17 Championship in Morocco after a penalty shootout defeat by Cote d’Ivoire, defeated Mexico 6-1 in their opening game, drew 3-3 with Sweden and hammered Iraq 5-0. In the Round of 16, they ran Iran ragged 4-1, dispatched Uruguay 2-0 in the quarterfinals and trounced Sweden 3-0 in the semifinals, before they dislodged Mexico by the same margin in the final to lift the trophy.
The former Nigeria international will now immediately resume the role and take charge of the team’s preparations for next month’s WAFU B U17 Championship, taking place in Ghana.
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