Nwakali (middle), Osimhen (right) of the Golden Eaglets won the Golden and bronze boots respectively
Nwakali who was captain and MVP as Nigeria won a fifth record title in Chile was given the bronze boot for scoring three goals and as many assists but FIFA insists Samuel Chukwueze who recorded as many goals and assists as Nwakali was the deserving winner.
Chuzwueze in the thick of the action against Croatia
FIFA explained that Nwakali played more minutes (630 minutes) as against Chukwueze’s 535 minutes and hence the latter should be the winner.
The letter reads: “Instead of player no. 8 of Nigeria, Samuel Chukwueze, the player Kelechi Nwakali (player no. 10 of Nigeria) received the adidas Bronze Boot. However, if two or more players are still equal (after goals and assists), the player who has played fewer number of minutes will be ranked first.
“With this in mind, adidas will send you another Bronze Boot in December 2015, which we would kindly ask you to hand over to Samuel Chukwueze. Please be informed that Kelechi Nwakali may keep his trophy.”
Nigeria became only the second side to retain the FIFA U-17 World Cup with a 2-0 win against Mali in Vina Del Mar, with Victor Osimhen scoring his record-breaking tenth goal of Chile 2015.
Nigeria’s Kelechi Nwakali was named the most valuable player of the tournament, winning the golden ball in the process.
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