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Golden Eaglets’ Senior Secondary School (SSS) 1 student captain, Simon Cletus, was named Man of the Match against Burkina Faso.
This was revealed by the Eaglets’ media officer Francis Achi on his X handle.
The Eaglets opened their Group B 2024 WAFU B U-17 tournament with a 0-0 draw against the Burkinabes on Thursday in Ghana.
Despite the draw, Cletus was outstanding for the coach Manu Garba-led side as he was involved in some of the team’s best moments in the game.
In the 24th minute he gave a defence splitting pass to Abdulmuiz Oladimeji, but the attacker missed target.
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Also, he had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock on 65 minutes but failed to convert the chance.
Cletus will be presented with his Man of the Match award on Sunday before the Eaglets’ second Group B game against Niger Republic.
He was unable to receive the award after the game against Burkina Faso due to rain.
Group B’s other game between Niger Republic and Togo game could not hold due to massive downpour. The game will be played today (Friday) at 9am.
6 Comments
Boy was brilliant with his creativity but when he had the chance on goal he was busy creating a goal in a situation that was easier for him to score. Lol the mistake is accepted at this stage. He has such a bright future ahead of him, Manu Garba emergence will give a fresh breath to hidden talents in the academies most especially after the Wafu when he will have the time to comb for better players within the u17 age bracket.
I am seeing beyond what you have written here at Chima,E. Samuel’s…
The guy cletus is an SSS 1 Student as they said but owned by Mavlon FC. Just the same way as Charles Agada, an Otukpo boy, Benue State from last year Nduka Ugbade set of Eaglets was owned by same Mavlon FC registered in Lagos.
We need to know why Mavlon FC always contributes players to Eaglets and Flying Eagles… the question to ask is who owns Mavlon FC? Is it someone in NFF or a close associate?
I am aware the current team was assembled in less than a month to the tournament but Manu Garba said he has them ready before he was appointed. What I see Manh Garba doing is selecting players sent to him by business associates who owns football academies.
As long as U-17 selection is not taken back to an academical competition like the principal cup which has a nationwide reach where players play to a final four schools with selections by team of observing coaches from all regions down to the finals which can then be televised for all to see… we will keep having business men running academies paying for their players into national cadet team setup.
I was not impressed by the selection of players based on their qualities that I saw and even how some of them look underfed compared to Burkina Faso boys. Nigerians come in all shapes but even at 16yrs old it is very easy to get boys who are really good and also look physically fit for the challenge.
I believe Nduka Ugabde team of last year had more talent and played better compared to what I saw yesterday. If not for how NFF behave… there is nothing wrong in pairing Ugbade and Manu to do the jobs.
Yesterday I opposed you because you have forgotten Manu Garba was only hired 3 weeks despite all the shouts from football body to get a coach hired. But talking about having players mostly from Marvlon fc is also noticeable. My own thing is that the players should be very good like Cletus kind of talent. But I’m not seeing BLA youngsters that are very much more skilful than Cletus and within same age. Why is BLA players not getting invitations? Ariehi Kparobo and some players would have made Burkinababe pay and will take Ghanaians to the cleaners. Manu should get players from BLA and not spoil his legacy. You have a point here @Jimmy!!!
@Chima… That’s what I am saying get the best in the age bracket… there is too much talent everywhere. Marvlon FC always has players in U-17 these days… Can we know who owns that Football Academy? You will be shocked what you find… It’s all business just one player throw to any Europe Feeders of Top team will bring revenue to any academy club owner in Nigeria in the corridor of 100s of Millions.
Academies are also in the east they should beam their searchlight there
Some academies are in the north.