Dubai: Sweden manager Roland Larsson has backed Nigeria to win the Fifa Under-17 World Cup after the Super Eaglets beat his side 3-0 in their semi-final at the Rashid Stadium here on Tuesday.
Taiwo Awoniyi put the Africans ahead on 21 minutes before Samuel Okon and Chidera Ezeh made the game safe in the final 10 minutes.
It was another confident attacking display from Nigeria, who have scored 23 goals in six matches on their path to a record fourth title. They now face defending champions Mexico in the final at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday from 8pm.
Larsson, whose side had earlier drawn with Nigeria 3-3 in the group stages, said: “I think we played against the world champions today. If you are going to beat Nigeria, you have to play without mistakes and take your chances.
“This is a really good team. They have already beaten Mexico 6-1 in the group stages and, of course, it won’t be that score in the final, but I think they are really good, have good individual skills and high speed.
“They don’t need two or three chances to score, that’s the special thing. If they have one chance, they score, it’s fantastic. You have to concentrate for 90 minutes or you are out of the game.”
Despite the loss, Sweden’s run to the competition’s last four surprised everyone, especially as this was their World Cup debut at this age-level. They will next play Argentina, who lost 3-0 to Mexico in Tuesday’s earlier semi-final, in the third-place play-off in the capital on Friday from 5pm, a match Larsson now wants to use as consolation.
“As a rookie, we’re proud of our two games against Nigeria — we made some mistakes but that’s football. The opportunity to play a team like that will mean a lot for experience.
“We are satisfied with our run, but when you have a chance of reaching the final you want to reach it. The boys are going to be disappointed, but we will wake up looking forward to a medal, we’d like to have a medal to take back to Sweden.
“It wasn’t our goal to reach the semi or the final so this is a bonus. We don’t go to the final, but we still have a chance for a medal and we are going to do everything we can to beat Argentina.”
Nigeria coach Manu Garba said of the final: “We’ve watched Mexico come back from a 6-1 defeat [to Nigeria] and still make the final. They have improved match by match and have shown very good character to overcome Brazil and Argentina.
“The final will be very tough but my players are turbo charged to take the cup back to Nigeria. If we maintain this tempo and tactical discipline I believe we can go far. We’ve scored the highest number of goals and displayed total football that has never been seen at this level. We go into the final very confident.”
