It was a great fanfare in Abuja yesterday as hundreds of fans trooped out from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium through the major streets of Abuja to express their appreciation to the triumphant Golden Eaglets who defeated African Champions Mali in the final of the just concluded FIFA U- 17 World Cup to emerge eventual champions for a record fifth in Chile on Sunday.
A set of fans numbering about 50 started chorusing saying “please don’t sign for troubled Chelsea now, please sign for Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, we beg you oooo”, the fans sang.
Team Captain Kelechi Nwakali brimming with smiles told SportingLife that ‘we are very happy with this reception. We never expected this kind of large crowd. This will definitely spur us to do more in the future when we progress to the other cadre of the national teams.
The team went on a motorcade through the airport road where hundreds of fans lined up the streets to cheer the victorious Eaglets who stood throughout the smooth journey to the Transcorp Hilton Hotels where the team and officials would lodge singing “O se, o se o, o se o, o se baba (meaning thank you, thank you God).
The team fully guarded by the police, Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), Department of State Security (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC) and television stations’ vehicles loaded with their staff recording the proceedings of the day and newspapers’ cameramen too.As the celebration continued, a minor accident invloving three cars occured at Lugbe road, but no life was lost.
SportingLife checks revealed that the vehicles ran into each other, as the drivers wanted to catch a glimpse of the players and the trophy which was displayed through the bus’ window.
