African flag bearers Gambia have been grouped alongside Iran, Holland and Colombia in Group C during the draws for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria on Friday.

The tournament hosts Nigeria face South American giants, Argentina, in what has been termed a 'tough group', Group A. Also in the group, which will be based in Abuja, are Germany and Honduras. The Gambia will play their group match in Calabar, with fellow second-timers Holland - who knocked the Baby Scorpions out of the 2005 event in Peru - seeming to be their main threats in the group that is considered by many as fair. Colombia and Iran are, however, not to be underrated though.

The Nigeria event will be Colombia's fifth appearance at the competition, following trips to Scotland 1989, Japan 1993, Finland 2003 and Korea 2007. Their best showing was in Finland where they finished fourth after losing the play-off for third place on penalties to Argentina.

In comparison with Colombia's achievements, Iran's record at the age group pales into insignificance, with the junior Team Melli featuring at the FIFA U-17 World Cup only once (Trinidad and Tobago 2001). They finished runners-up in Asian qualifying to book their passage to that global showpiece, but they had a disastrous campaign once there, crashing out in the first round after three straight defeats.

Group B, which will based in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos has three-time champions Brazil facing Japan, Mexico and Switzerland,
while Group D has Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Turkey with venue in Enugu.

Group E, which has Kano as centre, will welcome teams from Malawi, the United States, UAE and another tournament favorites Spain. Kaduna, which is Group F, will host teams from Algeria, Uruguay, Korea Republic and Italy.

Friday's draw ceremony also included the unveiling of the official mascot of the tournament. Bobo the eaglet was chosen due to the eagle's intrinsic link with Nigeria. He symbolises the friendliness and strength of the Nigerian people whilst also representing the passion that football arouses in the host country. He eats, sleeps and breathes football and cannot wait to welcome visitors to the FIFA U-17 World Cup fixed between October 24 October to November 15, 2009.