Itusco:

Someone pointed out that their jerseys are bigger than them hence they have to be young. I rebuked it with a simple explanation; they are simply malnourished. Rooney looked 22 when he was 17 because he fed well. Im not saying only Nigeria cheats. All African countries cheat while i raised my eyebrows at the South American players who looked rather old. The Europeans in my opinion looked really young especially the Russians and the Swedes. Some say u cant judge someone's age by their face but believe me if u line up 10 people, i can give an accurate age range of at least 8 My age range for these Eaglets...... well lets just move on. No wonder by the time these guys play the U-20 tournament, they flunk out simply because their real age has caught up with them and cant play at that level. Its easy to bully a 17 year old or younger. Its not if u dealing with a 20 year old.

After a FIFA Under 17 world cup game in 1999, on the back of walloping the Japanese 9-0, the Japan coach Philippe Troussier said he saw one of the Nigerian U 17 players enter a taxi with his “wife and two children” Its time we stopped deceiving ourselves and get real.

yd849ja: It's quite disheartening that most Nigerians lack common sense and truly sense is not a common attribute of a typical Nigerian. Why do we like deceiving ourselves for pit sake? The OP made very cogent and valid points here but rather than address the issues raised we resort to name calling and abusive languages. For all that can't see the message of the article I say carry on with your charade. Let's be honest with ourselves those guys are nowhere near 17yrs or less. Time they say would tell like the OP retorted.

Birikiti: I believe posters should be objective and know facts behind a story before coming out with categorical statements!

1) This set of Eaglets is a result of long term planning that started 3 years ago with the NFF assembling a National U-13 team.

2) Many of these guys have been together in different academies across the country since then. Some have gone out to play in Youth tournaments in SA, Europe and Asia over the years.

3) The coaches Manu, Amunike, Ugbade and Amadi started screening 2 years ago. Many of these guys had to take leaves of absence to go for school exams, in fact, most of them just wrote the last SSCE exams.

4) MRI tests were carried out at several stages and I can categorically say that up to 8 key players were dropped because they were on the borderline of the MRI results. Now the MRI is not an absolute test as even trialists like 16 year old Abuchi Obinwa, who was born and brought up in the USA failed the test.

5) We need to appreciate the work the coaches have put in the team even in the face of disqualification of so many key players. We have not seen such a free scoring Nigerian side since Japan 93 which we know was populated by relatively "older" and more experienced U-17s (lol).

6) I believe this team is a foundation for Nigerian domination of World football in the not too distant future! If they are well managed and nutured, with clubs that have a history of youth development taking most of them... then I can wager that Nigeria will win the World Cup in Qatar 2022 (8 years from now) all other things (like good administration/ adequate government backing) being equal

7) In addition to the more visible prospect, Success, Ihenacho, Yahaya, Mohammed (capt) I would like to point out the tireless workers in the team; the 2 central defenders Zaharadin Bello and Abubakar as well as pit-bull defensive midfielder Akinjide Idowu as massive prospects in this team.

I wish the team would win the cup but in-experience and youth exuberance might be critical factors. Notwithstanding, the boys are the future of Nigerian football irrespective of the outcome of this tournament.

9) Lastly, has anyone noticed that almost every part of Nigeria is represented in this team? And before folks shout federal character policy, everyone has acquitted themselves well showing they all deserved their places! It goes to show that Nigeria's diversity is a strength we should build on to become a world super power. Let us not allow politicians divide us, together we can make Nigeria take a place of pride in the comity of nations!

Thank you all.

Sincere 9gerian: Following the success of the Golden Eaglets at the just concluded FIFA Under-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates, some perennial fault-finders have raised concerns about possible age fraud. Consequently, it has become imperative to dissect all the facts and separate facts from fictions and wishful thinking. Here are the things you need to know about MRI and its use in checking age fraud in international sports age-grade competitions.

1. Age fraud (synonyms: age cheat, over-age, age doping) is a term for age fabrication or the use of false documentation to gain an advantage over opponents in age-grade sports competitions.

2. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body.

3. MRI is one of the diagnostic imaging modalities in medicine but the topic is specifically about using MRI to check age fraud in sports.

4. By using MRI to scan the wrist, it is possible to verify the age of players or athletes to ensure they are within the specified age limit in sports competitions. The technique looks at the degree of fusion of the distal radial physis using a grading system that correlates with the player's age. As age increases, so does the fusion grading.

5. MRI can determine age below or over 17 with a certainty of 99%. In other words, since all the Golden Eaglets players at the just concluded U-17 FIFA World Cup were subjected to MRI test, there is only 1% chance that any of the players is older than 17 years.

6. Therefore, MRI is considered as an easy, safe, and accurate method of determining bone age and verifying the age of players and athletes.

7. The mandatory use of Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced by FIFA in 2009 for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to help ascertain whether players are over age or not. Initially, MRI was done randomly but for the just concluded Under-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates, all the players passed through the test.

8. In 2011, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) enforced the use of MRI for the 2011 African Under-17 Championship.

In conclusion, in this new regime of mandatory MRI test in international sports, there is virtually no room for over-age players/athletes.

References:
http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/mri/mri-cracks-down-%E2%80%98age-doping%E2%80%99-international-sports
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_fraud_in_association_football
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri

Itusco: While the country celebrates their triumph, i'm a bit irritated and sad ( yes sad!!!) because i know they didn't deserve their triumph because they cheated their way to the top and bullied honest countries out of the way. Its been a scourge that has affected our football since forever and simply does not pay off in the long run. Before you readers bite my head off, i'll give my reasons why i'm disgusted with the Golden Eaglets.

Itusco:
First things first,how did these guys pass the MRI test? FIFA claim they run tests on all participating players to determine their ages but apparently that test was waste of time. I can only draw two conclusions; 1. The MRI scan doesnt work. 2. Our boys used Juju to beat the machine. Because seriously i dont need a machine to tell me those guys are not less than 23-25 years and that's giving them the benefit of the doubt.According to FIFA records, the likes of Iheanacho, Success Isaac, Abdullahi Alfa are just 17 while other players like Habib Makanjuola, Abulazzez Abubakar are the youngest at just 14. My God are FIFA dumb or what? Iheanacho 17? Its freaking hilarious!!!

Itusco:

Someone pointed out that their jerseys are bigger than them hence they have to be young. I rebuked it with a simple explanation; they are simply malnourished. Rooney looked 22 when he was 17 because he fed well. Im not saying only Nigeria cheats. All African countries cheat while i raised my eyebrows at the South American players who looked rather old. The Europeans in my opinion looked really young especially the Russians and the Swedes. Some say u cant judge someone's age by their face but believe me if u line up 10 people, i can give an accurate age range of at least 8. My age range for these Eaglets...... well lets just move on. No wonder by the time these guys play the U-20 tournament, they flunk out simply because their real age has caught up with them and cant play at that level. Its easy to bully a 17 year old or younger. Its not if u dealing with a 20 year old.

After an Under 17 in 1999, on the back of walloping the Japanese 9-0, the Japan coach Philippe Troussier said he saw one of the Nigerian U 17 players enter a taxi with his “wife and two children” Its time we stopped deceiving ourselves and get real.


My biggest problem is the longevity of these 'world beaters'. How many of these players shine at these competitions but fizzle out 2 years later? Where are the likes of Chrisantus Macauley,Ganiyu Oseni, King Osanga who all rocked South Korea 2007? These guys should be 23 years or so yet they seem to have vanished off the face of earth. The likes of Rafeal, Danny Welbeck, Danny Rose, Victor Moses, David De Gea, Asier Illaramendi all played that tourmamet and today line up for the top teams in Europe.There is a minute number of these players that make the Super Eagles like Kanu Nwankwo, Victor Ikpeba, Wilson Oruma, Celestine Babayaro who somehow managed to line up for the senior team. I can bet that the current
crop of Eaglets will never make the national based on recent history and lets face it no European club wants to buy a 30 year old claimig to be 18. So where do they end up? Obscure soccer coutries like Singapore, Finland or India. Its damaging our football but everyone seems to be okay with cheating and win at all cost attitude even if it means lining up 25 year olds to bully innocent teenagers.

Itusco:
Im a big admirer of the system set up by the Europeans. The German team is currently made up of players who represented the junior teams and worked their way up to the senior team.

Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummmels, Marcel Scmelzer, Jerome Boateng were all part of triumphant UEFA U21 Championship in 2009. Many of those players went on to play at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa just a year later. That is a country that is serious about football and not just interested in winning so that the the government can give the lands and cars. Spain is another brillaint example who are known for their youth system.

Basically all their senior players at one time played for the junior teams and if i remember correctly the likes of Xavi and Casillas came to Nigeria in 1999.They are fit as fiddle and still play football at the two biggest clubs in the world. Toni Kroos, Haris Seferovic,

Granit Xhaka, Isco, Mario Gotze, Neymar, Pablo Sarabia were all present at the 2009 U-17 World Cup in Nigeria and now play for the senior national team. Before i continue rambling,

Francesco Totti and Gianluigi Buffon may have finished bottom of the group with the Italian Under 17 team in Japan 93, but fastfoward 20 years, There's still no party without Totti and Buffon remains one of the best goalies in the world.

I'm sure u get my point now.

I wish these current Eaglets good luck. While i'm certain they will end up like them Chrisantus Macauley, i can only hope they prove me wrong. The debate about age cheats is getting old and over flogged so by now the NFF should know the right thing to do but i can only conclude they refuse to do it. Its winning them trophies but in the long runs wins us nothing. Shame on them and shame on Nigerians for celebrating mediocrity and cheating. It just proves we have no redeeming quality.

safarigirl: Father Lord, please help these pathetic, hopeless grandfathers that have wasted their lives bad belleing everyone around them and are now senile, poverty-ridden cretins to accept that for the first time in our history, Nigeria did the right thing and fielded BOYS for an U-17 tournament. But if this is too much for them to digest Lord, kindly lead them to the nearest otapiapia seller in their vicinity, and give them the courage to jump off 3rd mainland bridge after swallowing 6 bottles of otapiapia and licking a packet of confo. Thank you Lord for answered prayers.

oduz: A Nation of Cheaters would remain backward for long, and loose respect in the committee of Nations

Worst of all, we may never find out if we can win without cheating

More importantly, these could never be achieved without the connivance of corrupt leaders

Let's unearth the facts behind this trend. Let's unite to save Nigeria

The Land is Green

pato405: @OP,

your IQ is far less than that of a cockroach. You have just succeeded in publicising how grossly r.etarded you are

can't believe you had the time to write that crap. Go get yourself educated on how MRI scanners function. Are you claiming to be wiser than FIFA and research that has innovated the bone epi/hypophyseal plate scanners? FYI, it's 99% accurate!

yd849ja:
@breezy047
"Do not exxagerate my friend. Learn to be sincere. Iheanacho and co. may not be U17, but they definitely are not older than 23-25. If what we see everyday on the streets of Nigeria is what we go by, I would put their ages between 16-21.

These present set are young talents. They belong to the geniune age grade of 16-21.

Stop whining that they don't look U17. They are not older than 21."


You my friend is a classic example of what is wrong with Nigeria...they said they are age cheat you said they are between 16 & 21 for an U17 tournament. To start with do you know the difference between 17 & 21yrs 4 good years!!! They said you stole meats from the pot...you said 'No it's only a piece of meat' I'm very sorry for Nigeria if your kind is what parades the length and breadth of this Nation.

safarigirl: Father Lord, please help these pathetic, hopeless grandfathers that have wasted their lives bad belleing everyone around them and are now senile, poverty-ridden cretins to accept that for the first time in our history, Nigeria did the right thing and fielded BOYS for an U-17 tournament. But if this is too much for them to digest Lord, kindly lead them to the nearest otapiapia seller in their vicinity, and give them the courage to jump off 3rd mainland bridge after swallowing 6 bottles of otapiapia and licking a packet of confo. Thank you Lord for answered prayers.

safarigirl: Father Lord, please help these pathetic, hopeless grandfathers that have wasted their lives bad belleing everyone around them and are now senile, poverty-ridden cretins to accept that for the first time in our history, Nigeria did the right thing and fielded BOYS for an U-17 tournament. But if this is too much for them to digest Lord, kindly lead them to the nearest otapiapia seller in their vicinity, and give them the courage to jump off 3rd mainland bridge after swallowing 6 bottles of otapiapia and licking a packet of confo. Thank you Lord for answered prayers.