Former U-20 coach Samuel Abimbola has urged the Golden Eaglets to take positives from the early exit of the Flying Eagles at New Zealand 2015, aspire to go to Chile to make a statement.
The Flying Eagles under the care of Manu Garba were tipped to win the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, but the team were eliminated in the second round by a determined Germany.
Abimbola told SportingLife that the U-20 team would have gone far in the competition if they had remained calm and not got carried away by the hype.
“The Flying Eagles were complacent because of the much hype from the media and others around them.
“They saw themselves as unbeatable and failed to realise that there were other teams that were better than them. They paid for their lack of respect for their opponents.
“I want to advise the Golden Eagles to learn from the fall of the Flying Eagles and solely concentrate on the football they are going for.
“They need to respect their opponents too if they are to go far in Chile,” Abimbola told SportingLife.