The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has assured the Flying Eagles that they will be fully prepared for the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal.
NFF director of competitions, Sanusi Mohammed, gave the assurance when he visited them on New Year’s day at their African Continental Hotel training camp in Kaduna.
“We plan to ensure you get top quality friendly matches before the AYC and thereafter you proceed on a training tour of a country with a similar weather condition to that of Senegal,” declared Sanusi.
“We believe in this team and are very much encouraged by the unity and sense of purpose you have displayed all this while.”
It is believed that NFF are now exploring the possibilities of getting the country’s U20 team to train for at least a month in Gambia before they hit Senegal of the AYC.
They are drawn against hosts Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo in Group A of the competition, which kicks off on March 8 in Dakar.
Ugbade – We will win AYC in style
Flying Eagles assistant coach Nduka Ugbade has predicted his team will a seventh AYC title by winning all their matches in Senegal in March.
The Nigeria U20s are pitched in Group A alongside host country Senegal, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire.
They begin their campaign on March 8 against Senegal.
“We will win all our matches in Senegal on our way to winning the AYC in style,” said Ugbade, who has represented Nigeria at U17, U20 and full international levels.
“We have quality in the team and will continue to work hard until we have achieved our targets in Senegal before we set new targets for the World Cup in New Zealand.”
The semi-finalists of the 2015 AYC will qualify to represent Africa at the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand beginning in May.
