BY Victor Akhidenor
Golden Eaglets of Nigeria became only the second side to retain the FIFA U-17 World Cup with a 2-0 win against Mali in Vina Del Mar.
Victor Osimhen scored a record-breaking tenth goal of the tournament and Funsho Bamgboye added a second moment later.
With the win, Nigeria became the only side after Brazil to win the trophy back-to-back.
The two sides had chances in cagey opening exchanges, with Nigeria’s captain Kelechi Nwakali hitting a shot just wide while at the other end Boubacar Traore’s glancing header was saved by Akpan Udoh.
The match came alive in the second half with the defending champions upping their game.
Starman Osimhen saw off a challenge from Mamadou Fofana before hitting a volley which the Malian goalkeeper saved.
The crossbar prevented Nigeria from taking a well-deserved lead after Udochukwu Anumudu’s effort beat the keeper but rebounded back off the crossbar before it was cleared to safety.
The deadlock was eventually broken in the 56th minute.
Substitute Chinedu Madueke gave Osimhen a pass and the striker wasted no time to bag his record-breaking goal. He now surpasses the nine goals scored by Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2001 and Souleymane Coulibaly in 2011.
Barely three minutes later, the holders doubled their lead with Bamgboye bursting down the wing before smashing a thunderous effort which flew past the keeper.
Mali had few chances of their own from corner kicks but Nigeria held on to retain their title.
In the third-place match played earlier, 10-man Belgium finished with the bronze medal after a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Mexico in Vina del Mar.
Dennis Van Vaerenbergh opened the scoring for the Belgians before a Ricardo Marin penalty levelled matters moments later with Dante Vanzeir’s chip cancelled out by Francisco Venegas’s late leveller.
Vanzeir then kept his cool in stoppage time to seal third place.
Nwakali, Osimhen bag individual awards
Top scorer Victor Osimhen and captain Kelechi Nwakali both made their mark on the competition and their efforts were crowned with individual awards.
Nwakali won the adidas Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player while Osimhen set a new U-17 World Cup goalscoring record.
THE AWARDS
adidas Golden Ball: Kelechi Nwakali (Nigeria)
adidas Silver Ball: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)
adidas Bronze Ball: Aly Malle (Mali)
adidas Golden Boot: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria/10 goals, 2 assists)
adidas Silver Boot: Johannes Eggestein (Germany/4 goals, 0 assists)
adidas Bronze Boot: Kelechi Nwakali (Nigeria/3 goals, 3 assists)
adidas Golden Glove: Samuel Diarra (Mali)
FIFA Fair Play Award: Ecuador
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