Obuh Banks On S’African Tourney For New F’ Eagles

Head coach of the Flying Eagles, John Obuh,  has described as a major setback the inability of players in the U-17 team to move into the national U-20 team.

Obuh told newsmen last week in Abuja that the forthcoming Eight-Nation Invitational Tournament in South Africa would be used to assess the players in new squad.

The tournament in Cape Town is scheduled to hold between May 24 and June 3, with Nigeria’s Flying Eagles defending the title won in the 2010 inaugural edition.

“As it is now the only thing we can do is to make sure that we use every competition that we participate in to assess the players to select the ones we will be able to groom together.

“And that is why we are looking forward to this South Africa game; probably after about two or three games we will be able to asses them very well,’’ he said.

The coach said that he was not expecting too much from the team for now, adding that the game would enable the players to test their ability in a competitive match.

“When we start raising an entirely new team like this, the thing that will be on the technical crews’ mind is the possibility of getting what you need from the new players.

“Once you find out that they have the understanding of the game, their coordination is good, they have the necessary skills and they are coachable, then you can pick up from there.

“Definitely it would have been better if we had at least about eight or 10 that played together in the U- 17 team,’’ Obuh said.

He said the performance of the present crop of players in the team during the trial matches would determine whether there would be any addition or subtraction from the squad.

The coach allayed the fears of clubs that the players might not be released to honour club assignments, saying that playing for their clubs was also good exposure