Paul Aigbogun, the Nigerian Under20 handler, says nothing will be left to chance as the team seeks to secure the ticket for FIFA World Cup in Poland

 By Benprince Ezeh

PAUL Aigbogun, the head coach, has declared the readiness of the Nigerian U20 squad to give its very best in all group phase matches at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Niger Republic, in order to qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup slated for Poland mid-year.

“It is a tournament we are going to approach with all seriousness. This team has a huge burden on it because of the previous performances of Nigeria at U20 level. Nigeria has won the competition seven times and anything less than coming home with the trophy would always be seen as failure.

“Playing in the WAFU Cup tournament in Togo gave my players sneak preview of what things would look like in Niger Republic, and we learnt a lot from the defeat to Senegal in the final match.”

Nigeria play host nation Niger Republic, South Africa and Burundi in Group A of the U20 AFCON, with venue based in Niamey. Before the tournament, the Flying Eagles have a tune up game against their Saudi Arabian counterparts in Jeddah on Tuesday, January 22.

The encounter comes on 25 days short of 30 years to the day the Flying Eagles edged their Saudi Arabian counterparts 2-1 in the opening match of the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, now FIFA U20 World Cup at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.

At the eight –team U20 AFCON taking place in Niger Republic, February 2-17, all four semi finalists will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland set for May 23 – June 15.

Poland, which co-hosted the 2012 European Championship with Ukraine, will host the 24 nation finals in the cities of Lublin, Bielsko Biala, Tychy, Bydgoszcz, Gdynia and Lodz. The Draw Ceremony has already been set for February 24 at the Gdynia Sports Arena in the city of Gdynia.

BE

– Jan. 16, 2019 @ 16:50 GMT |