It seemed every Nigerian in the UAE was in the stadium. And then a few more. Their Golden Eaglets were 90 minutes away from another Fifa Under 17 World Cup, a record fourth, and no one wanted to miss the party.
They were not disappointed. Neither by the result nor the celebration that followed, at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
In the opening fixture of Group F, the tournament’s so-called group of death, Nigeria destroyed Mexico 6-1 in front of several thousand fans in Al Ain.
The final was never going to see a repeat of such a skewed score. But neither was it going to see a different winner.
Nigeria were devastating in this tournament. Twenty-three goals scored, five conceded. Sweden were the only team to take points off them, in a 3-3 draw, and even they were easily beaten 3-0 in a semi-final rematch.
The Nigeria fans came to see a coronation. In every corner of the stadium, they chanted. As Friday night’s kick-off approached, hundreds were still streaming in. The atmosphere was nothing like the tournament had seen so far.
Mexico’s fans, who had produced a fiesta in Tuesday’s semi-final win over Argentina, were swamped in the sea of Nigerian support, which made up the vast majority of the 20,018 at the match.
The opening moments hinted at a close match, but parity lasted only nine minutes. The sensational Musa Yahaya bore down on goal, but as he prepared to pull the trigger, Erick Aguirre of Mexico poked the ball past his own keeper, Raul Gudino.
Nigeria never looked back. Kelechi Iheanacho, the man of the tournament, Taiwo Awoniyi, and the brilliant Musa Muhammed led the charge, and Mexico had no answer.
They struggled to break free from the shackles of physically stronger opponents and were reduced to shooting from long range.
Yahaya, often seemingly on a planet of his own, could have made it two but hit the bar after a mazy run. The noise, incredibly, was getting louder. A minute before half time, Awoniyi almost scored the goal of tournament, acrobatically meeting a cross with an overhead kick that, luckily for the flat-footed Mexican keeper, struck him in the chest.
Any doubts about the destination of the trophy were banished just over 10 minutes into the second half. Muhammed’s stinging long-range shot was too hot to handle for Gudino, and Iheanacho tapped in the rebound.
On the touchline, the Nigeria coach Manu Garba did a little jig of joy. On the big screen, the watching Nigeria legend Kanu celebrated. And in the stands, the Nigerian fans were hysterical.
The noise reached a deafening level, perhaps the loudest this stadium has ever experienced.
Ten minutes later, the unstoppable Yahaya pulled off a Zidane pirouette in the middle of yet another stunning run. The crowd roared its approval. With more than half an hour to play, the party had begun.
The cake barely needed any icing, but got it anyway. With 10 minutes left, Muhammed, alongside Yahaya the outstanding player of the match, curled in a sensational free kick to make it 3-0. Delirium for the Green and White Army.
At the whistle, the ecstatic Nigerian players ran to every corner of the ground, as love poured from the stands.
This trophy belonged to the fans as much as the players. Few of the youngsters would have played in front of crowd of this size, and the encouragement of their fans was a lesson in how to inspire a group of youngsters to great heights.
Nor were they the only ones to grace the tournament’s six stadiums. Attendances were not always huge, but fans from every community came out to support the stars of the future, appreciative of a rare Fifa competition at their doorsteps.
But it was fans of one community, in particular, that celebrated late into the Abu Dhabi night.
Who can blame them? The Golden Eaglets, again, were Fifa U17 World Champions.
akhaled@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
