Upbeat Flying Eagles Land In Ghana

Nigeria U20s, the Flying Eagles, landed in Accra, Ghana, Friday evening ahead of two warm-up matches against their Ghanaian counterparts.

Both teams are preparing for next month’s African Youth Championship in Senegal.

The 22-man Flying Eagles squad flew into the Kotoka International Airport in Accra by 5pm local time, which is 6pm Nigerian time.

NFF deputy secretary general Emmanuel Ikpeme is the leader of the Nigerian delegation to Ghana.

The team’s first test game against the Black Satellites is fixed for Monday, February 16, at the Accra Sports Stadium, while the second match has been fixed for Thursday at the Tema Sports Stadium.

Flying Eagles

The Tema Sports Stadium has an artificial pitch.

Kick-off time for both matches has been fixed for 3pm local time, which is 4pm Nigerian time.

The Flying Eagles are booked into the MPlaza Hotel.

They will have their first training by 3pm on Saturday at the Presec Park in Accra.

Referee Agbovi William will handle the first game, while the second match will be officiated by Cecil Fleicher.

Flying Eagles Face Spotlight In Test Game Wednesday

The Flying Eagles will take on Nigeria National League (NNL) side Spotlight of Katsina in another test game on Wednesday.

The match will be played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna and it will kick-off by 11am.

Spotlight, who have defender Mustapha Abdullahi with the Nigeria U20 side, are gearing up for promotion to the Nigeria top flight in the forthcoming season.

The Katsina club, who placed 10th on the Nigeria National League Division A table, have made several top signings to match their ambitions.

Flying Eagles

Spotlight have been on a pre-season training tour of Kaduna and have so far won three and drawn three of their matches. Their own loss thus far was to Jamba Aacdemy, who beat them 2-1.

The Flying Eagles, who are getting set for the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal in March, are also likely to battle league champions Kano Pillars by the weekend also in Kaduna.

The Nigeria U20s are also slated for an expanded Super 4 tournament in Abuja, which will begin on Thursday, January 22.

The other teams for the tourney are Nigeria U23 team, Pillars, Enyimba, Dolphins and Warri Wolves.

The Nigerian clubs are preparing for CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup matches in February.

MUSA YAHAYA, CHIDERA EZE CONFIRM FLYING EAGLES ARRIVALS

Tottenham Hotspur youth team forward Musa Yahaya and Chidera Eze, who features for the youth team of FC Porto, have confirmed their arrival dates to the training camp of the Nigeria U20 team, the Flying Eagles.

According to Flying Eagles team secretary Auwal Aliyu Ibrahim, Musa has said he will join the team by January 16 after he would have finished playing in an invitational tournament in Malaysia involving Tottenham youth team.

Chidera Eze, on the other hand, said he will join the team’s Kaduna training camp on January 15.

Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has given a January 15 deadline for all invited foreign-based professionals to join the squad.

MUSA YAHAYA GOES FOR GOALS VS TANZANIA

Aliyu Ibrahim further disclosed he expects to get confirmation for the arrival of Manchester City pair of Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali as well as Slovakia-based Moses Simon and Kingsley Madu later this week.

The Nigeria U20s are slated to feature in an expanded Super 4 tournament that will include Nigeria U23 team, league champions Kano Pillars as well as Enyimba, Warri Wolves and Dolphins.

The Super 4 is expected to begin on January 22 in Abuja.

They are then expected to depart for an overseas training camp ahead of the 2015 African Youth Championship, which kicks off in Senegal on March 8.

The Flying Eagles are drawn in Group A along with the host nation, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo.

NFF Promise Flying Eagles Adequate Preparations…

Flying Eagles

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have promised the Flying Eagles they will be fully prepared for the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal.

NFF director of competitions, Sanusi Mohammed, assured the team of adequate preparations 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.

Nduka Ugbade

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.

Sokari To Undergo Scan For Injury

Enyimba star Kingsley Sokari has joined up with the Flying Eagles squad in Kaduna, but he will undergo a scan to determine the extent of his hamstring injury.

Sokari pulled out of the jogging exercise at Monday’s training and the Flying Eagles now hope to ascertain the severity of the hamstring injury the midfielder suffered in the final of the Federation Cup against Dolphins last month.

Otherwise, Sokari has said he has been warmly received by the Nigeria U20s and he wants to fight for his place in the team.

Flying Eagles

“I have been very well received by the officials and fellow players and I know I now have to justify my call-up,” said the young midfielder, whose eventful season was crowned with Enyimba retaining the Federation Cup.

“The fact that I have trained with the Super Eagles does not mean anything. I just have to work harder so that I could play regularly for the Flying Eagles.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of young players have continued to troop to the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna with the hope of impressing the Flying Eagles coaches led by Manu Garba.

The screening exercise involves training twice a day and officials have hinted that soon the team will begin test matches for the selected players.

22 Flying Eagles Call-Ups In Kaduna

Twenty two call-ups have so far reported to the Flying Eagles training camp in Kaduna, officials have disclosed.

The players include FC Porto striker Jacob Njoku, Musa Newman from Sunshine Stars, Prince Izu Omego, Wilfred Ndidi, Abdullahi Alfa, Ifeanyi Nweke, Tony Edjomariegwe and Mustapha Abdullahi.

Others are Sulaiman Abdullahi, Ifeanyi Matthew, Chisom Eze and Zaharadeen Bello

Flying Eagles

This training camp is for players who are based locally as another screening exercise will be conducted for overseas pros early in the New Year, according to coach Manu Garba.

The Nigeria U20s are preparing for the 2015 African Youth Championship slated for Senegal from March 8.

The top four semi-finalists at the AYC will represent Africa at the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

FLYING EAGLES ARRIVE IN KADUNA FOR LESOTHO CLASH

Nigeria U20s, the Flying Eagles, arrived Kaduna Sunday afternoon after a short bus ride from Abuja ahead of a final 2015 AYC qualifier against Lesotho next weekend.

The squad of 25 players were led by coach Manu Garba.

Manu Garba

They are putting up at the African Continental Hotel in Kaduna, just as they did when they hosted Tanzania in the previous round of the AYC qualifiers.

The Flying Eagles will begin training on Monday at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, where the qualifier against Lesotho will be played on Saturday.

The return leg match will be played a fortnight later in Maseru with the overall winners advancing to the 2015 AYC in Senegal in March. Lesotho are expected later in the week in Kaduna.

“We are very much at home in Kaduna after we thrashed Tanzania 4-1 in the previous round,” said defender Zaharadeen Bello.

“And we hope to again prove how much at home we are here with another convincing victory against Lesotho on Saturday.” Senegalese referees have been appointed for the match.

In the meantime, midfielder Abdullahi Alfa is expected to join the squad on Monday after undergoing trials in Norway. He is the only player on the 25-man squad named at the weekend who is yet to be in Kaduna.

FLYING EAGLES COACH MANU MAKES CHANGES FOR TANZANIA REMATCH

Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba plans several changes to his starting XI for Saturday’s 2015 African Youth Championship qualifier against Tanzania in Kaduna.

Nigeria U20s beat their Tanzanian counterparts 2-0 in Dar es Salaam a fortnight ago.

Coach Manu is now most likely to start Abubakar Aliyu ahead of Izu Omego in the heart of the defence alongside Wilfred Ndidi.

Aliyu is a big, commanding central defender and he is expected to deal better with the long balls of the Tanzanians and their bigger strikers.

And the coach will also have to decide on whether to start FC Porto forward Chidera Eze ahead of his most effective striker Alhassan Ibrahim ‘Mu-azam’.

Eze has picked form since he recovered from a hamstring injury which ensured he did not make the trip to Tanzania.

‘Mu-azam’ has struggled with hamstring strains days leading to the return match, but his defensive capabilities could well give him the nod ahead of Eze.

Taiwo Awoniyi will again lead the attack after he scored in the first leg in Tanzania.

Meanwhile, visiting Ngorongoro Heroes of Tanzania suffered a huge setback going into the second leg in Kaduna as they will be without skipper and goalkeeper Aishi Manula.

Ngorongoro coach John Simkoko said Manula, who was forced out after the first half of the first leg due to injury, is on full international duty with Tanzania after he recovered from the injury.

Interestingly, Tanzania are fresh from a training stint in Qatar.

Officials disclosed that as many as 6,000 security men will be on duty at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

“Everything is being done to ensure the safety of everyone involved in this match,” said a top police officer.