Ahead of the make or mar clash with the Black Starlets of Ghana on Saturday at the WAFU U17 Tournament, Nigeria Football Federation head Amaju Pinnick has charged Nigeria Golden Eaglets to stay true to the country’s heritage of a robust winning mentality and not to cower before their opponents. 

The Golden Eaglets started their campaign on a disappointing note as they fell 1-0 to Cote d’Ivoire in their opening game on Wednesday.

And as they get set for the all important clash against the Ghanaians, Pinnick, in a visit to the team’s camp at the Hotel Novella Star in Lome, Togo charged the players to believe in themselves and go all out for victory.

“Nigerians don’t want to know about tactics, just go, play and win the game. The mentality of Nigerians is winning, they don’t care how you win, just win. Winning gives Nigerians a lot of joy,” Pinnick said.

“So, I just want to crave your indulgence to represent Nigeria well. I’m happy that I can see all the players in this U 17 team, I can see that we have the youngest team in this tournament, which of course, I’m very proud of.

“It is developmental football at this level. It does not mean that we do not want to win. Nigerians wants you to win so that you will be celebrated. We want you to be celebrated, it is very important that we must win. Just work hard and ensure we beat Ghana. The attitude we always display is that we can do it. That is the spirit under my leadership in the Nigeria Football Federation and that is what we expect from you.

“Your coach will tell you the technical and tactical way to achieve winning, but what I will tell you is that you are Nigerians and for you be a Nigerian, you must be positively rugged to achieve your dream,” he said.