Nigeria are through to the semi-finals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup after getting the better of
Uruguay in a fine 2-0 victory in the last eight. Among their outstanding performers was goalkeeper
Dele Alampasu, who has endeavoured to learn from past mistakes as he continues to make himself
at home on the world stage.
There was no mistaking the Golden Eaglets' dressing room in the bowels of Sharjah Stadium on
Saturday, the African hopefuls united in expressing their euphoria following another impressive
demonstration of force. Laughter and cries of joy escaped from inside as their imposing No1,
standing nearly two metres tall, exited to share his thoughts with FIFA.com .
"They're the toughest team we've faced so far," said Alampasu, fresh from playing his part in
eliminating La Celeste . "They're good tactically and very disciplined. They switch well between long
balls and short passes, and we had to be very focused." The South American side certainly tried
everything to find a weakness in their rivals' rearguard, only to come up short, and several Uruguay
players shed tears of anguish when they conceded the second goal ten minutes from time.
Leader at the back
Nigeria's leader at the back was all smiles, in contrast, having silenced the likes of Leandro
Otormin, Francis D'Albenas and Franco Pizzichillo. "I had my eye on those three in particular," he
said. "I forbade my team-mates from letting them shoot. I kept telling them to stay on top of them
and block their efforts. I shouted at my defenders a lot to adjust their positioning and marking."
The custodian had to do more than simply use his voice, however, notably producing an excellent
double save in the first half before killing off any suspense with a solid showing at the end. "It's
my job to save my team, to save my country," he said. "We're all fighting to be the best we possibly
can and do something big in this tournament."
Having helped themselves to 20 goals thus far, Nigeria are the most prolific team in the
competition, but that has by no means made life easy for Alampasu. While his outfield colleagues
have proved adept at limiting danger, the 16-year-old has had to remain switched on at all
moments. "That means you have to be focused all the time," he explained. "You need to make the
right choices at the right moments, and you never know when something might happen. You have
to always be ready if you don't want to make a mistake."