Idris Adesina
Mutiu Adepoju has tipped Nigeria
Under-17 team coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, to win an award at the 2015
Glo/CAF Awards in Abuja on Thursday.
Amuneke has been nominated for Coach of
The Year along with former Ivory Coast coach, Herve Renard, Etoile du
Sahel coach, Fawzi Benzarti, and CAF Champions League-winning coach TP
Mazembe’s Patrice Carteron.
Amuneke led the Golden Eaglets to their fifth title at the Chile 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
The other Nigerians listed in the awards
are Kelechi Nwakali and Victor Osimhen in the Youth Player of the Year
category, Azubuike Okechukwu, who captained the Under-23 to glory in
Senegal, and teammate, Oghenekaro Etebo, in the Most Promising Talent of
The Year category. The Under-23 team and the Golden Eaglets have been
nominated for the National Team of the Year award, while Falcons
defender, Ngozi Ebere, is nominated in the Women’s Player of the Year
award.
Adepoju told our correspondent on
Wednesday, “The year 2015 was not really a good one for the top Nigerian
players because none of them could make the final three of the African
Footballer of The Year. It is worrisome because in the past we had two
players in the final three.
“But 2016 is another opportunity for the
Nigerian players to prove their mettle on the continent. The other
Nigerians in the awards should win in their categories.
“I believe Amuneke will win the Coach of
The Year because he surpassed the expectations by winning the Under-17
World Cup. He showed the Nigerian spirit to raise a formidable team to
conquer the world. The players he discovered will be the bedrock of the
national team if monitored.
“The young players too should win in
their categories because they worked hard to get nominated. Osimhen and
Etebo can win in their categories.”
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