How Far can They Go?
By
Monday, July 02, 2007
A lot is at stake for the Flying Eagles who begin the campaign for honours in the World Youth Championship this week
By Victor Ugborgu
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria will face a big challenge this week as they confront other teams in the World Youth Championship, WYC, in Canada. The Eagles will be under pressure to either retain their second position or improve on that.
Two years ago in Holland, the Nigerian Under-20 team, against all odds, came second behind Argentina in the 2005 World Youth championship. The Flying Eagles qualified for the Canada Championship by virtue of their second position at the Congo 2007 Africa Youth Championship held last February.
Nigeria is drawn in Group F with Costa Rica, Japan and Scotland. The Flying Eagles will test their skills against Costa Rica on July 1, the second match is against Scotland on July 4, while the last group match takes place on July 7 against Japan.
The encounter against Costa Rica will, no doubt, re-live the energy-sapping encounter between the two countries during Nigeria '99 World Youth championship at the National Stadium, Lagos on April 3, 1999. The Eagles, under Tunde Disu found it very difficult to overrun the Costa Ricans even with the array of players in their camp. The game eventually ended 1-1. Eight years after, the two teams are meeting again to determine the superior side. Indeed, many football lovers expect Flying Eagles to win their first match against Costa Rica and subsequent matches, and possibly win the trophy.
But can the Eagles live up to expectation? Adeboye Onigbinde, former Super Eagles coach said it would not be easy for the Nigerian team to make any serious impact in the championship, unless the team improved on its present form. He warned the Eagles to be ready to face stiff challenge in the championship because of the calibre of teams in the race. "The player should expect a stiff opposition from the South American and European teams. All the countries in the championship have worked hard to qualify and, therefore, no team should be underrated. The Flying Eagles must not be complacent about their pre-tournament performance. They should work extra hard, if they want to make any impact and avoid distractions," he said.
Others believe that the poor performance of the team at the 2007 Africa Youth Championship in Congo would also affect the players in Canada. The Flying Eagles came second behind the host country, which many sports analysts saw as an outing far below the general expectation of Nigerians Nigeria was the defending champions. This failure of the Eagles to retain the cup led to the sacking of Godwin Uwua, the coach. There are fears that the team has not improved enough since then, and that might affect their chances in Canada.
But Ladan Bosso, coach of the Flying Eagles said there is no cause for alarm. He dismissed insinuations that he has not been able to organise the players well because of the short time he had stayed with them. He said the present squad would spring a surprise in Canada. "Our aim is to go there and do better. But we will take the games one at a time, and adopt tactics that will sustain us," he said. He is actually banking on the array of players he has assembled for the task ahead. They include, Oladapo Olufemi of Anderlecht FC Belgium, Ezekiel Bala of Lyn Oslo, Norway, Akeem Agbetu of Kolding FC, Denmark and Kingsley Salami of Cardiff Football Academy.
Others are Uwa Echiejile of Insurance of Benin, Ikechukwu Ezenwa of Ocean Boys, Nduka Ozokwo of Enugu Rangers, Blessing Okardi of Ocean Boys and Moses Adams of Westerlo FC, Belgium. The rest are Olufemi Thomas of Nasarawa United, Moses Ocheje of Lobi Stars, Suraj Sodiq of Prime FC, Adeniyi Ayodeji of Gateway, Efe Ambrose of Kaduna United, Akeem Latifu of Bussdor FC, Robert Egbela, Sunshine FC, Nazifi Inuwa of Kano Pillars, Chukwuma Akabueze of Kwara United, Bello Kofarmata of Kano Pillars and Brown Ideye of Ocean Boys. These are the players, Bosso intends to use to surprise the world and prove his critics wrong.
Nduka Ozokwo, captain of the team said he was optimistic that his team would not disappoint Nigerians. "I believe we can win the trophy. I know that other teams will be well prepared for us; we are equally ready for them. It is the cup that will compensate us for all that we went through on our way to Canada," he assured.
If the Flying Eagles qualify for the second round of the competition, they may likely meet Brazil, Spain, Uruguay or Zambia in the round of 16.
Three other African representatives, Congo, The Gambia and Zambia will also battle for honours in other groups. Congo, the current African champions will sweat it out with Canada, host country, Chile and Australia in Group A. The Gambia will face Portugal, Mexico and New Zealand in Group C, while Zambia will battle for supremacy in group B against Spain, Uruguay and Jordan.
Apart from the African representatives, 20 other countries will compete for honours in the championship Argentina; the defending champions will be chasing their sixth title in the championship. They are in group E with Czech Republic, North Korea and Panama, while Brazil is in group D with Poland, South Korea and the USA. Football pundits are of the opinion that the battle is actually between Argentina, Brazil and one African country, possibly Nigeria. The truth or otherwise of this prediction will be unveiled on July 22 when the competition will end.
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