It'll be hard to qualify for next round -Germany coach

Germany coach Marco Pezzaiuoli has revealed that it will be difficult for his team to advance to the next round of the ongoing FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

The Germans were forced to 3-3 draw by Nigeria's Golden Eaglets in the opening day of the Championship on Saturday at the Abuja National Stadium.

"It'll be very hard to qualify for the next round, but I'm convinced that the teams from this group who do go through will have a great chance of going all the way," Pezzaiuoli stated.

He stressed that he was disappointed with the result, noting that all coaches will want to win their first game.

"I'm disappointed because all coaches want to win, but I'm still satisfied with the game. For an hour, we played the perfect match, but after the red card, with the fatigue and the pressure from Nigeria, we caved in. But I can't put it all down to the red card, as even with 10 players we should still be able to keep our shape. In a group like ours, every game is very difficult," the German tactician said.

Germany took a deserved lead in the 22nd minute as Lennart Thy powered home a header to silence the home crowd.

They doubled their lead sixteen minutes later when Shkodran Mustafi found himself free on the right to slam home a cross in the Nigerian box.

Both teams returned into the second half with purpose but it was the Germans who compounded the hosts' woes when Mario Goetze made it 3-0 in the 47th minute.

The turnaround began for the defending champions in the 53rd minute when Robert Labus harshly halted Omoh Ojabu in the area, conceding a penalty and receiving his marching orders for the professional foul.

It marked a remarkable fight-back as the Golden Eaglets scored three times in a spate of seven second-half minutes against the ten-man European champions to salvage a point when all seemed well and truly lost.

Stanley Okoro scored from the resulting penalty kick in the 54th minute while Kenneth Omeruo left his marker stranded to power home a header five minutes later.

And substitute Edafe Egbedi volleyed home a deflected shot in the 61st minute from close range.

Both sides had a late chances to win the game but Terry Envoh hit the crossbar for Nigeria while Thy struck the upright late in the game.