Flying Eagles Sure Of Repeating Ghana’s Feat In Colombia

Despite a poor run in preparation for the U-20 World Cup in Colombia, soccer loving Nigerians still expect the Flying Eagles to deliver on a promise to conquer the world at this level. The championship will last for July 29 to August 20.

The Flying Eagles, then known as the Junior Eagles, first qualified for the World Youth Championship in 1983 with a team overflowing with such talent like skipper Ali Jeje, Tarila Okorowanta, Paul Okoku, Christopher Anigala, Olukanmi brothers and Taju Disu.

They failed to go past the first round in a group that included Brazil and the Netherlands.

The team has since played in two championship games, in 1989 and 2005. They also finished third best in 1985.

In May, the Flying Eagles emerged champions for a record sixth time in Africa. The last such triumph was six years ago in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.

Two years ago, the Black Satellites of Ghana raised the bar for African participation in the U-20 World Cup when they became the first African team to win it.

The joy of this epic triumph was that several players from this team would go on to star for the full international side at the 2010 World Cup as Ghana became only the third African country to reach the last eight of the global showpiece.

According to MTN Football, both Flying Eagles coach, John Obuh, and president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari, have made direct reference to the record set by archrivals Ghana, saying it’s a challenge they are up to.

The NFF has invested heavily in this team, the core of who are the boys from the country’s U-17, who reached the final of their age group World Cup, also two years ago.

This has included training stints in Libya, Turkey and Dubai before the AYC and then an invitational tournament in South Korea before training camps in Portugal and Panama preparatory to the World Cup.

In three warm-up matches on the trot, the Flying Eagles have failed to find the back of the net, before they broke their duck against Mexico on Friday.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN