By Ebube Dike

President, Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Amaju Pinnick has rallied the Golden waglets of Nigeria to go all out and defeat Ghana in their final match of the ongoing West Africa Football Union Tournament holding in Lome, Togo

Ahead of the make or mar clash with the Black Starlets of Ghana on Saturday, Mr Pinnick charged teenagers to show robust winning mentality against their opponents stressing that Nigerians do not care about tactics they would deploy to win the match.

Pinnick charged the players to believe in themselves and go for victory when he visited the team’s camp at the Hotel Novella Star in Lome, Togo, while admonishing the players to remain focused in the task of representing Nigeria very well at the tournament.

“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 a developmental football at this level. It does not mean that we do not want to win. Nigerians want 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 to be a Nigerian, you must be positively rugged to achieve your dream,” he said.

Nigeria lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast on Wednesday and need an outright victory to entertain hope of qualifying for the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations championship holding in Morocco.

The 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations will be the 14th edition of the tournament.

Nigeria is grouped along with Ivory Coast and Ghana in Group B. only two teams will qualify for the tournament from the Zone B region.