Eaglets to get Super Eagles call ups
by Calvin Emeka Onwuka 20 November 2013, 12:53
Credit: SuperSports.com

Stephen Keshi has told supersport.com that he intends calling up a few of the Nigeria U17 Players to the Super Eagles in preparation for next year's CHAN tournament

There have been widespread calls within Nigeria that members of the U-17world cup winning team to be drafted into the Super Eagles ahead of the world cup.

In an exclusive interview with supersport.com at the Hilton Cobham hotel where the Nigerian team based following the friendly with Italy, coach Stephen Keshi has been speaking on a variety of issues including the availability of the Eaglets.

"I watched them during their tournament and I did mention that I liked a few of the players and of course I will like to take a closer look at them. So the plan is to invite them to the training programme for next year's CHAN and monitor them".
The Afcon winning coach is careful to temper the expectations of the public with regards these players.
"People need to understand that even though they won their tournament, it does not mean they are ready to play for the senior teams immediately. Like I keep saying, I am on the lookout for those players that will improve the present squad so these U-17 boys will get the first crack at it. I will be pleased if one or two step up their game and make it"
It will be recalled that 20 years ago, as Nigeria prepared for a first world cup appearance, then head coach Clemens Westerhof gave caps to the then U-17 world cup winners Karibe Ojigwe and Kanu Nwankwo in friendlies but they did not make the final squad to the USA based tournament of 1994.
© supersport.com

Singin..
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
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Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
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Kelechi Ihenacho.

Dont 'rush' or distract these boys with any 'super eagle call-up' . We need a transition where they can all progress to d under 20(flying eagle), under23(dream team) and then to super eagle. They're young , strong and look like d future super eagle.

caseless: Dont 'rush' or distract these boys with any 'super eagle call-up' . We need a transition where they can all progress to d under 20(flying eagle), under23(dream team) and then to super eagle. They're young , strong and look like d future super eagle.

Pele was 17 when he led brazil to the world cup title

Hakim27:

Pele was 17 when he led brazil to the world cup title

Owen and Rooney joined England's national team early.

Hakim27:

Pele was 17 when he led brazil to the world cup title

and how many of such legends has the world seen? yeah, we had pele, of course, how many peles can we find apart from brazillian pele? dz one na legend.
again, if u read the article, u'd see where he said kanu and d other guy were invited to d eagle prior to 94 worldcup , but were never part of the squad that made it to u.s.a. so, this is not d first time we're having under 17 'champs' being called to the eagles.

d boiz shld be allowed to grow with 'age competitions'.

ckkris: Owen and Rooney joined England's national team early.

what was their achievement at junior levels? we're talking about countries with strong records in youth football e.g nigeria , brazil, etc, u are talking about england and their players who are nowhere on the map. owen was d youngest player at 98 world cup, did he win like pele hakim used as an example? i can't remember rooney having any international trophy to his name.

ckkris: Owen and Rooney joined England's national team early.

both were playing a top flight football in liverpool unlike most of these guys in the academy that are not fully professional.

In my own opinion its a welcom development as keshi wish 2 test-run dis guyz, @ least he will satisfy d so many talk of dis guy drafting 2 d senior team.

I will advice him 2 test-run few eaglet strikers and attacking mid-fielders, because 2 me eaglet defendes is nt yet dere @ all, dey can train wit super eagle anyway but as @ nw dey cant bench azibuke, benjamen frances and co..

But its possible 4 iheanocho 2 bench dat buffalo faka guy called MOHAMMED GAMBO
I will wish 2 c dat iheanacho play wit d eagle in a friendly match wit any africa team, and if he played an excellent game am sure d likes of IDEYE and ODUAMADI wil start fearing loosing dere shirt because d compitition in d super eagle camp is scary already.

It's a Welcome development! Let them come. Just to test them Na?

It 's a brilliant decision , to let them play with the home based super Eagles , but most of them will move to Europe during the January transfer .

caseless: and how many of such legends has the world seen? yeah, we had pele, of course, how many peles can we find apart from brazillian pele? dz one na legend.
again, if u read the article, u'd see where he said kanu and d other guy were invited to d eagle prior to 94 worldcup , but were never part of the squad that made it to u.s.a. so, this is not d first time we're having under 17 'champs' being called to the eagles.

d boiz shld be allowed to grow with 'age competitions'.

Age is no barrier to success...if you can play ...play...Lebron james was 18 years old when he came into the NBA...Iheanacho will be an upgrade over ideye and oduamadi

SuyaEater:

Age is no barrier to success...if you can play ...play...Lebron james was 18 years old when he came into the NBA...Iheanacho will be an upgrade over ideye and oduamadi

i'm not saying age is a barrier; all i'm saying is that, d boys should be given chance to grow with other youth competitions. that boy in man u is jst 18, wat stops iheanacho frm playing at such level? nothing! he can even do better, but he shldn't be distracted.

Hakim27:

Pele was 17 when he led brazil to the world cup title

tell am

Once again-Keshi

chimex38: Singin..
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.
Kelechi Ihenacho.

caseless: i'm not saying age is a barrier; all i'm saying is that, d boys should be given chance to grow with other youth competitions. that boy in man u is jst 18, wat stops iheanacho frm playing at such level? nothing! he can even do better, but he shldn't be distracted.

I understand your concern. But, if managed properly, there is nothing wrong with a 17-year old playing with the senior team. Michael Owen at 18-years old was a revelation at the 1998 world cup. Messi, Rooney, Pele, all represented their countries in the senior team when they were teenagers. It's a great thing!

Unforgettable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV7XxkqLjDE

caseless: and how many of such legends has the world seen? yeah, we had pele, of course, how many peles can we find apart from brazillian pele? dz one na legend.
again, if u read the article, u'd see where he said kanu and d other guy were invited to d eagle prior to 94 worldcup , but were never part of the squad that made it to u.s.a. so, this is not d first time we're having under 17 'champs' being called to the eagles.

d boiz shld be allowed to grow with 'age competitions'.

if there can be one, surely there are more. You'll never know if you don't try. There could be a Messi in Isaac, a CR7in Awoniyi, an Iniesta in Yahaya or a Pele in Iheanacho. The U-20/U-23 is there, if we try them and they don't work out, fine, take em to the U-23 and see what happens. CHAN is good for em, start locally(CHAN, WAFU games) and prepare em for the big stage. These boys(apart from Yahaya) will be 18 next year, by 2016 no SE player will be eligible for the Olympics, who will you field? THESE BOYS. Better to start preparing them now before the U-23 comes and story starts.

safarigirl: if there can be one, surely there are more. You'll never know if you don't try. There could be a Messi in Isaac, a CR7in Awoniyi, an Iniesta in Yahaya or a Pele in Iheanacho. The U-20/U-23 is there, if we try them and they don't work out, fine, take em to the U-23 and see what happens. CHAN is good for em, start locally(CHAN, WAFU games) and prepare em for the big stage. These boys(apart from Yahaya) will be 18 next year, by 2016 no SE player will be eligible for the Olympics, who will you field? THESE BOYS. Better to start preparing them now before the U-23 comes and story starts.

hmmm.... the words in bold gat me thinking what will become of those boys after a 'failed spell' in super eagle. u know how we(nigerians) react to issues; i'm sure u and i will be here calling for their heads when this happens. we are among the most impatient fans d game of football has ever seen. i believe they can do well, but i'm against distraction. chan is a good ground to test them. i agree with u........on some points.

isale_gan2:

I understand your concern. But, if managed properly, there is nothing wrong with a 17-year old playing with the senior team. Michael Owen at 18-years old was a revelation at the 1998 world cup. Messi, Rooney, Pele, all represented their countries in the senior team when they were teenagers. It's a great thing!

Unforgettable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV7XxkqLjDE

'this is my worry'! can the coach give them room to operate freely? they'd be restricted in one way or the other considering their age and experience. yahaya or nacho cannot get d chance or room owen was given at 98 worldcup in super eagle due to aforementioned reasons. we all saw how okocha presence denied the likes of wilson oruma, austin obodo etc, the chance to fully prove themselves cos whenever they're invited, they came knowing 'fully' well that okocha will not sit on the bench for them. we saw how celestine babayaro, a natural mid-fielder was converted to a left full-back. By the time the national team coach , who's under pressure to pick this players, does that that and sees that they do not fit into his plan, he'd resort to changing their original positions and fielding them in other position; this wil take d pressure off him(coach) and also bring the boys down psychologically.

caseless: 'this is my worry'! can the coach give them room to operate freely? they'd be restricted in one way or the other considering their age and experience. yahaya or nacho cannot get d chance or room owen was given at 98 worldcup in super eagle due to aforementioned reasons. we all saw how okocha presence denied the likes of wilson oruma, austin obodo etc, the chance to fully prove themselves cos whenever they're invited, they came knowing 'fully' well that okocha will not sit on the bench for them. we saw how celestine babayaro, a natural mid-fielder was converted to a left full-back. By the time the national team coach , who's under pressure to pick this players, does that that and sees that they do not fit into his plan, he'd resort to changing their original positions and fielding them in other position; this wil take d pressure off him(coach) and also bring the boys down psychologically.

Okocha was in a class of his own. Okocha's era had a SE team with arguably the greatest Nigerian players in history so anyone coming in knew not to expect much. The current SE doesn't have an Okocha, a Yekini, a Kanu, a Keshi or an Oliseh, most are rusty. If these boys are great, surely they can bench the likes of Ideye and Oduamadi

I totally support d inclusion of d world U-17 winning eaglets to d Brazil bound Eagles. Kanu & Ojigwe could not make d USA '94 world cup mostly because of high level politics in d super eagles then,who wld u drop? Oliseh, siasia, keshi or equavon? D paddy paddy tinz. So i feel keshi shld test success,iheanacho, yahaya & musa mohammed.am very sure these guys wld strengthen our world cup team.

its a brilliant decision to call them up to CHAN. at least if not for anything people will realize that playing a world U-17 world cup is a different kettle of fish compared to Senior World Cup

The one player I hope they invite is Jersey Number 14 Nwakali. That boy is light years above his age when it comes to his football brain

Who are those complaining about their ages? Football today is ruled by youngsters.there are lotta youngster at the range of 17 to 21 making their clubs and countries proud-Lukaku,januzag,gotze,draxler,neymar,pogba......so if ur 17 and u have the potential,nuffin stops u 4rm playing.If I were Keshi,I would take one of em 2 d world cup