Eagles
Flying Eagles head coach, Aliyu Zubairu reveal his boys still has to step up their game despite beating Young Elephants in Abidjan; npflupdates.com reports.
The Flying Eagles last Wednesday beat Young Elephants 2-0 in Abidjan Inna friendly encounter ahead of the AFCON U-20 tournament.
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Two second half goals by team captain Daniel Bameyi and playmaker Divine Oliseh separated both sides.
In his post-match presser, Aliyu Zubairu openly expressed his thoughts on the game. Also, he talked about the ongoing development process of the team.
What Flying Eagles coach said after victorious outing against Young Elephants
“My reaction to today’s game wouldn’t be that important as it is at this level – in as much as we are still in a building process,” he stated per Allnigeria.
“We came here for the friendly match to be able to know the level at which some of the old players that went to WAFU-B are and the new ones that want to join us.
“If any of those that went to WAFU-B can’t meet up with the standard we are looking for, he will be replaced, and so are the new ones if you can’t fit in. We still have to keep setting until we get a balanced team for the U20.”
The Flying Eagles gaffer, also highlighted his expectations for the new players who are set to join the team when they regroup after a one-week break.
“We are expecting a lot of players, particularly those who have taken their careers abroad, that are eligible.
“We are expecting a reasonable number of them that will join us as soon as we go back to Nigeria. We are planning to go on a week break, so from there, when we regroup, that’s when we start expecting the foreign based players to come.”
As the Flying Eagles prepare for their second friendly match on Friday, the El Kanemi warriors gaffer highlighted the importance of continued seriousness and consistency their approach.
“We are still going to approach Friday’s match with seriousness because we adopted a tactic that we try to look if It’s going to work during the AFCON proper.
“So we are going to go for another tactics to see so that we can have a plan A and B- should in case plan A fail us as a team so we can quickly switch to plan B.”
The second friendly against the same Elephants is set to kick off at 3:30 PM Ivorian time (4:30 PM Nigeria time) at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny,.
Mac-Ford Akhabue reveal interest in Nigeria Football cites Osimhen as role model
In another story, Flying Eagles eligible defender, Mac-Ford Akhabue reveal his readiness to switch international allegiance to Nigeria. The Canada-based teenager, cited Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen as his role model.
“I will say my role model is Victor Osimhen. Apart from coming from my tribe, Esan, Edo state he is been motivating me in a way.
Also read: WAFU U-20: 3 Important Takeaways From Flying Eagles Victory Over Niger Republic
“He worked hard to be where he is today in football, globally. His work rate, dedication, determination to excel and talent was it for me and ever since I have been monitoring him I see him as a player any serious aspiring young lad should emulate in order to go higher in the game,” the former High Park FC said.
The youthful defender speaking about his love Nigeria football and players said, “I want to play for Nigeria, like Osimhen is doing at the moment. That is my ambition and I look forward to working towards that,” he said.
