Reigning world champions, Nigeria, will play host country in the preliminary stages of the 2015 Fifa World U-17 Championship in Chile
The Golden Eaglets will also face Croatia and USA in the relatively tricky Group A.
Coach Emmanuel Amuneke’s boys placed fourth at this year’s African U17 Championship in Niger Republic to qualify for the tournament where they will be hoping to defend the crown their predecessors won two years back in the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking after the draw, Amuneke said “They (Chile) are very good but every team’s objective is to do well and even win the tournament. Chile are the host, they’ll have all the support of the home crowd behind them, but the most important for us now is to concentrate for the US game, in every World Cup the first game is very important.”
Footballlive.ng quotes him further: “You have to ensure you don’t lose because a win gives you confidence. But while am not overly concerned about the win I want to see my players display real discipline on the field.
“We’ve made it to the world cup and now we must work hard to make sure we achieve our set goals.”
Nigeria is the most successful team in the competition with four titles won in 1985, 1993, 2007 and 2013.
The 2015 draw ceremony took place Thursday night at the theatre of the Centro de las Artes 660 in Santiago de Chile, Chile.
African U-17 winners, Mali, will battle with Belgium, Honduras and Ecuador in Group D.
Last edition’s runners-up Mexico will slug it out against Argentina, Germany and Australia in Group C.
Elsewhere, South Africa, who finished second at the African U17 Championship, will try North Korea, Costa Rica and Russia for size in Group E.
The Golden Eaglets will face the United States U-17 in the opening match of the competition on October 17 at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago.
The Groups
Group A (Santiago, Vina del Mar, Coquimbo): Chile, Croatia, Nigeria, USA
Group B (La Serena, Coquimbo, Vina del Mar): England, Guinea, Brazil, Korea Republic
Group C (Chillan, Talca): Australia, Germany, Mexico, Argentina
Group D (Talca, Chillan): Belgium, Mali, Honduras, Ecuador
Group E (Concepcion, Puerto Montt): South Africa, Costa Rica, Korea DPR, Russia
Group F (Puerto Montt, Concepcion): New Zealand, France, Syria, Paraguay
