体坛英语新闻：Nigeria FA backs team to win U-17 World Cup

LAGOS, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's soccer governing body has urged the Golden Eaglets to create record for themselves and Nigeria by winning U-17 World Cup title for the fifth time.

General secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Mohammed Sanusi, gave the charge in Abuja, the country's capital city on Friday.

Sanusi said victory by the Eaglets in Sundays final of the tournament in Chile would also be a record for President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, Buhari will make history by receiving the trophy as a civilian president, 30 years after he received it as a military head of state, when the Eaglets won the maiden edition of the tournament in 1985 in China.

The young Nigerians on Thursday set up an all-African final with Mali after defeating Mexico 4-2 in one of the semi-final encounters.

Sanusi said the football house was optimistic that the Eaglets would do the country and the president proud.

The Eaglets had everything going for them in the tournament, especially now that it would play an African opponent in the final, said the NFF general secretary.

He allayed the fear being expressed by some Nigerians that Mali stood a better chance to win the trophy having won the 2015 Africa U-17 championship in Niger Republic, early in the year.

Sanusi urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the team to enable it complete its assignment by winning the trophy.