Australia are through to the Round of 16 at the FIFA U17 World Cup with a stunning 2-1 victory over the Golden Eaglets at the Estadio Bezerrao in Brazil on Friday night to leave their head coach Trevor Morgan waxing lyrical about his team’s strengths.
Teen star Noah Botic, who plays his club football for Hoffenheim under-19s in Germany, scored twice against the five-time champions to claim the Joeys’ first ever victory over Nigeria at the tournament.
The win guaranteed Australia a place in the next round after it looked unlikely before kickoff against a Nigeria team that thrashed them 6-0 the last time these two teams met, with a pleased Trevor Morgan paying tribute to the Joeys’ never-say-die attitude.
“We came here to win games and, although Nigeria were fantastic, we got the result,” said the Aussies head coach as observed by Soccernet.ng.
“We have to wait and see results now. The objective for us is to try and prepare to win every match.
“We’ve won this match, we’ll see where that puts us, and whether that helps us continue in the tournament.
“It’s a plus for the boys, for their commitment and belief to come here and play a top team and win.
“They (Australia) had to dig deep,” Morgan added.
“[The Joeys] played an excellent team with great quality and great physical capacity. We had to defend well which I think is important in winning.
“It did show the boys were able to keep concentrating, keep working, and in the end the result was fantastic for us.”
Nigeria had only lost twice in their last 30 FIFA U-17 World Cup matches heading before coach Manu Garba’s team suffered a defeat at the Estadio Bezerrão in Brazil.