With their thrashing of Mexico in
Friday’s Fifa U-17 World Cup final,
Nigeria have shown why they are the
best in the world. Goal examines one
facet of their dominance

With respect to
excellence in youth football, Ghana
and Nigeria are Africa's torchbearers,
with the latter being the latest of the
duo to assert its might after claiming
the ultimate at the just-ended Fifa
Under-17 World Cup in the UAE.
CHAMPIONS | The Super Eaglets are
the 2013 U17 world kings
Occasionally, the likes of Cote d'Ivoire,
Mali, and Egypt do make a statement
of sorts, yet the status quo has always
been the preserve of the two west
African giants. Generations of senior
sides for both countries have been
built on the back of huge feats at
junior level, with the likes of Nwankwo
Kanu, Samuel Osei Kuffour, Austin
Okocha and Michael Essien all
emerging from talent factories so
productive.
There arises the million-dollar
question, though: which of the pair -
between Ghana and Nigeria- is better,
if not necessarily more productive, at
international youth football?
Goal seeks to answer as accurately as
possible, using the simplest of
statistics.
THE CRITERIA
As a measure of determination, the
key to these comparisons is to credit
two points for each title won at
continental level, and one less for a
runner-up finish. A championship
triumph on the global stage fetches
three points, a finalist slot two, and a
bronze-winning campaign gets one.
Multiply the deserved point(s) by how
often a country has achieved a
particular feat, add up, compare the
final tallies and, Voila! *
So, then, shall we?
U17s
At U17 level, Nigeria are the top dogs
on the international stage,
underscoring that very fact with a
convincing victory against Mexico on
Friday. That conquest puts them on
four titles, one better than Brazil and,
even more crucially to this analysis,
two ahead of Ghana. Nigeria have
made the finals thrice more but lost.
Comparatively, Ghana are not too far
behind. In fact, had the Black Starlets
been successful on the two other
occasions they made the finals (1993
& 1997), they would have counted as
many U17 world titles as Nigeria, and
perhaps prop their cause up with the
bronze secured from New Zealand
1999. However, the Eaglets'
dominance is not so pronounced on
their home continent, with their two
titles matched equally by Ghana and
being just one losing finalists' spot
better.
At the end of 'Round One', the scores
read as calculated below:
GHANA - AFRICA (WINNER): 2x2〓4
" " (FINALIST): 1x1〓1
4+1〓5
GHANA - WORLD (GOLD): 2x3〓6
" " (SILVER): 2x2〓4
" " (BRONZE): 1x1〓1
6+4+1〓11
SUM : 5+11〓16


NIGERIA - AFRICA (WINNER): 1x2〓2
" " (FINALIST): 2x1〓2
2+2〓4
NIGERIA - WORLD (GOLD): 3x3〓9
" " (SILVER): 3x2〓6
" " (BRONZE): 0x1〓0
9+6+0〓15
SUM : 4+15〓19
U20s
BREAKING GROUNDS | Black
Satellites conquered the world in
2009
Nigeria have been twice as successful
as Ghana has at the African Youth
Championships - six titles to three -
and have been at par with their
neighbours in finishing second, with
two silver wins apiece. Only in 1999
did the rivals contest the final, and
Ghana, then managed by Italian
Giuseppe Dossena, emerged victors by
a solitary Laryea Kingson goal in
Accra. At the U20 World Cup, Ghana
have claimed four podium finishes -
once in third-place, twice as runners-
up, before picking Africa's sole world
crown four years ago - in six
appearances. Nigeria, on the other
hand, have achieved all that Ghana
have but the title.
GHANA - AFRICA (WINNER): 3x2〓6
" " (FINALIST): 2x1〓2
6+2〓8
GHANA - WORLD (GOLD): 1x3〓3
" " (SILVER): 2x2〓4
" " (BRONZE): 1x1〓1
3+4+1〓8
SUM : 8+8〓16
NIGERIA - AFRICA (WINNER): 6x2〓12
" " (FINALIST): 2x1〓2
12+2〓14
NIGERIA - WORLD (GOLD) : 0x3〓0
" " (SILVER): 2x2〓4
" " (BRONZE): 1x1〓1
0+4+1〓5
SUM : 14+5〓19
U23s
Things are a little more balanced
title-wise at continental U23 level
where each nation has managed one
triumph in five participations at the
All African Games. Only when silver
medals accumulated at the
tournament are factored in do Nigeria
distinguish themselves, edging this
particular count 2-0. In the larger
picture, Nigeria increase their
advantage with some five points from
fine performances at the Olympics
football tournament; three from
winning the Atlanta 1996 edition, and
another two from finishing next to
Lionel Messi's Argentina in Beijing
half-a-decade ago. Ironically, the only
medal Ghana can boast of - bronze
won by that ridiculously talented
batch of Black Meteors at Barcelona
1992 - was that which put Africa on
the Olympic football podium for the
first time. That said, it fetches them
no more than a point. Now let's see
how that adds up to give us our final,
almost conclusive figures:

Ghana's successes at youth football
level cannot be understated; they
might be third, fourth, or even second
best in the world. On home turf,
though, they do not seem to run their
neighbours close enough. Nigeria are
clearly on top, a full 12 points ahead
and trumping tthe Ghanaians on each
count, per the units of measurement
applied in this analysis.
So maybe statistics are a bit like
mini-skirts.
Maybe they do reveal everything.


Well done, 'Naija'.

ASUU has definitely brought the best out in u