Nigeria’s U-20 men’s football team, the Flying Eagles, have now settled down in Morocco’s commercial and economic capital, Casablanca for a one-week final training camp ahead of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) starting next week Saturday in Egypt.
Head Coach Ladan Bosso and wards are staying at the Novotel Hotel in Mohammedia, just outside Casablanca, and the head strategist is upbeat about the readiness of his boys to sustain their winning mentality when the tournament kicks off in nine days.
“We have been able to sustain the same mood we had in camp before going for the WAFU B U20 Championship in Niamey, which we won,” Coach Basso said.
“Since then, we have played a series of matches and scored plenty of goals, and that is immense for a winning mentality to stay within a team. However, we are not going to under-rate any of our opponents.”
“Defeating Zambia in Abuja was good for confidence but we know championship mood would be tougher. We will be ready to do the country proud,” Basso added.
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Nigeria’s first match of the campaign will be against Senegal’s Cub Lions at the Cairo International Stadium starting from 9pm (Egypt time) on Sunday, 19th February. The Flying Eagles, two-time FIFA World Cup runners-up and one-time bronze medallists, will then face hosts Egypt on Wednesday, 22nd February (same time and same venue) and Mozambique on Saturday, 25th February (same time and same venue).
All four semi-finalists at the 12-team championship in Egypt will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals to be staged in Indonesia 20th May – 11th June, 2023.
