Sports
U-20 World Cup: Coaches Confident Of Flying Eagles Performance
Former Flying Eagles coach Tunde Disu has expressed confidence in the ability of current Flying Eagles to do well at the FIFA U-20 World Cup scheduled for July 29 to August 20 in Colombia.
Disu, who won the silver medal with the team at the 1989 edition of the tournament in Saudi Arabia, said that he was confident that the team would triumph over other teams in its group.
Nigeria will play in Group D with Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Guatemala.
Disu, however, advised Coach John Obuh and the team not to underrate Saudi Arabia and Croatia, adding that the Saudis gave Nigeria tough time in 1989.
“I could remember in 1989 at the World Cup in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-Arabian team gave us tough time, so they should not be underrated.
“The Croatian team should also not be underestimated because they have been in this competition for long and they are good at launching surprises because of their high technical quality,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rowlandson Odeh, President, Amalgamation of Nigeria Female Football Coaches Association (ANFFCA), has commended the Nigeria Football Association for the preparation given to the team.
Odeh expressed self-confidence that the team would qualify to the next round of the game, adding that they had little or no threat from the other teams.
“I have no doubt that the boys will qualify for the next round and if they do, we have little to worry about,” he said.
He advised the team to take their games seriously, adding that if they qualified from the group, they would go a long way.
Odeh said he was pleased with the preparation of the team.
“I am pleased with the level of preparedness because they have played lots of friendly matches”, Odeh said.
He advised the team to learn from each of the teams they had played with during the friendly matches.
The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.
Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.
Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.
“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.
Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.
Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.
Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.
Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.
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