The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday in Abuja expressed cautious optimism on the draws for the 2011 African Youth Championship (AYC).

Nigeria were drawn alongside defending champions Ghana, 1995 winners Cameroon, and Gambia in Group B, while Group A has hosts Libya, Mali, Egypt and Lesotho.

The championship is scheduled for March 18 to April 1 in Tripoli and Benghazi with the semi finalists qualifying to represent the continent at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia later in the year.

Reacting to the draw, the NFA Acting General Secretary, Mr Musa Amadu, acknowledged that the Flying Eagles have tough opponents ahead of them.

“It is a tough draw and the Flying Eagles have a big task ahead of them at the AWC in Libya,” he told our correspondent in a telephone interview.

Amadu pointed out that the group had countries with teams, having pedigree at youth football level and also had impressive qualification records.

“Both Ghana and Cameroon are regular participants at the competition, with Ghana being three-times winners in 1993, 1999 and 2009 and also runners-up in 2001 and in 1991 they emerged third.

“Cameroon have won the competition once in 1995 in Nigeria here, and were losing finalists twice in 1993 and 2009 and were third in 1999.

“Gambia were third in their only appearance so far in Congo in 2007, and were one of the best teams on the road during the qualifiers. So, the Flying Eagles are in a tough group and must work hard,” he said.

The NFA Acting General Secretary, however, said the Flying Eagles could perform well in Libya and qualify for the Colombia world event if they hit the path to success early.

“If we win our opening game against defending champions Ghana on March 19 and go on to beat Cameroon on March 22, our final group match with Gambia on March 25 will only be a formality,” he said.

Amadu said the NFA’s major target was for the team to qualify for the FIFA championship and to ensure that the team and its handlers were given necessary support to achieve the goal.

“We will do all we can to assist the team and its handlers because we know they can do it. I am confident we will qualify for Colombia,” he said.