Soccer’s governing body FIFA awarded Nigeria the right to host the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2007 at its extraordinary congress held in Korea. The competition will be the third FIFA-organized competition hosted by Nigeria after the successful hosting of the FIFA Under-20 Championship in 1999. The Golden Eagles of Nigeria will defend the title they won in Korea at home, but the preparation for The Cup The Cadet World Cup was hit hard when the Nigerian Football Federation sacked manager Henry Nwosu, who was then in charge of the team, and announced the appointment of manager John Obuh and Monday Odigie as assistants.
The team suffered a new blow, when most of the players were eliminated due to the results of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed on the team. However, the setback did not deter manager John Obuh who was still able to assemble a pool of talented footballers from football academies spread across Nigeria. The competition was played in eight designated cities: Enugu, Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Calabar Ijebu-Ode, Kano, and Bauchi.
The competition which ran from October 24, 2009 to November 15, 2009 saw the Golden Eagles begin their trophy defense with a dramatic 3-3 draw with Germany, after the Germans won 3- 0. In their second match of the group stage, the young Eaglets inflicted a 1-0 defeat on a hapless Honduran side. The round of 16 tickets were secured in their last group match against Argentina with a resounding 2-1 defeat for the South Americans.
More drama would unfold in the round of 16, where the Golden Eaglet was paired up with the inexperienced New Zea-land. The match ended with a 5-0 thrashing of New Zealand. The Golden Eaglet was not done yet, as they defeated the struggling South Korean boys 3-1 in the quarter-finals, to set up a semi-final clash with the enterprising Spaniards seeking revenge for the 3-0 defeat. which they inflicted on them in 2007. The game was settled in regulation time with a dazzling goal from Stanley Okoro and a stupendous brace from Emmanuel Sanni to give Aguilucho Dorado a resounding 3-1 victory. The Golden Eaglets were one step away from making history as the only country to host and win the Under-17 trophy as defending champions.
In the final at the magnificent national stadium in Abuja, Nigeria failed to take advantage of the many opportunities that presented themselves in an entertaining encounter with Switzerland. They had to pay for their many failings, when Swiss striker Heris Seferovic scored the game’s only goal with a free header in the 63rd minute of the epic encounter.