Flying Eagles’ Media Officer Sharif Abdallah has said the target set by the team going into the AFCON U20 tourney has been met.
In an exclusive chat with Boluwaji Ogunmola on Saturday Breakfast Sports Show on BCOS TV, Abdallah said the team had set their sights on getting one of the World Cup tickets by qualifying for the semifinal stages of the U20 AFCON in Egypt.
Having achieved their first mission of qualifying for the World Cup, the Flying Eagles will now divert their energies to winning a record-extending eighth AFCON title.
To advance to the finals, the Nigeria U-20s must first get past Gambia in the semi-final, which would be a tremendous challenge given the Young Scorpions’ incredible performance in Egypt.
Abdallah was quoted as saying, “The ultimate target here in Egypt was for the Flying Eagles to get the World Cup ticket. Anything that comes after getting the World Cup ticket is more or less a plus.”
He said the team left Ismailia for Cairo where they will face The Gambia who defeated South Sudan in their own quarterfinal matchup.
On their semi final game against Gambia, Abdallah said: “They are a team we have been noticing from their WAFU tournament where they lost unfortunately in the final to Senegal by a goal to nothing. This is to tell you that the Gambian team is also solid but as Nigerians, we are not scared of any team on the continent because our boys are up to the task.”
When asked on the return from suspension of the team captain Daniel Bamaiyi on how he will strengthen the defense, Abdallah said his return was good news because his role as captain cannot be overemphasized especially given his key role in the qualification process. The Flying Eagles Media Officer said the captain will be assessed during the training sessions ahead of the semifinal game on Monday.
With the prospects of facing Senegal again in the final after the Flying Eagles’ opening loss to the Teranga Cubs, Abdallah said: “they have a very solid team and they won their WAFU tournament but we have studied their strengths and weaknesses and we will capitalize on it when we play against them. But, for us to get to the final, we have to play against The Gambia.”
The Media Officer expressed his gratitude to Nigerians and admitted that the team was still a work in progress but assured that the Flying Eagles will give a great showing.
While Nigeria barely squeezed past Uganda in their own quarter-final tie, Adama Bojang scored a hat-trick for The Gambia, as they thrashed South Sudan 5-0 to seal their spot in the semi final.
Flying Eagles opponents The Gambia and Senegal are the only teams to win all their matches without conceding a single goal.
Senegal and Tunisia will lock horns in the other semi-final match.