Tag: Flying Eagles

Several Flying Eagles stars, including Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success are to wear special Nike boots for the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

The Flying Eagles’ stars already have personal endorsements contracts with Nike, who are also now Nigeria kit sponsors.

Other players with such a deals are Moses Simon, Chidera Ezeh, Musa Yahaya and Chidiebere Nwakali.

Meanwhile, the bubbling spirit in the Nigeria U-20 team training camp in Nurnberg, Germany, has shot up after the team received a full complement of their training gear from kit sponsors Nike.

The team now have their travelling bags, boots, slippers, canvas shoes, training kits and casual wears from Nike as the sponsorship agreement kicked in on April 1, 2015.

“The new kits have worked wonders on the psyche of the boys. Now, they just want to go to New Zealand and ‘just do it’ as the Nike slogan goes,” said Flying Eagles’ assistant coach Nduka Ugbade.

“I really love the travelling bag. It’s simply beautiful,” praised an impressed defender Prince Izu Omego.

“The wind cheater is very comfortable and comes in very handy,” added striker Saviour Godwin.

The majority of the team are also happy that the kits they have received are in “Nigerian green”.

The players were also very delighted to pose for pictures in their new Nike gears.

A highly confident Flying Eagles of Nigeria landed in Germany on Sunday morning after a six-hour flight from Abuja the previous night.

The African champions made up of 26 players and 10 officials touched down at the Frankfurt Airport by 6am local time, which is an hour ahead of Nigerian time.

They then made the three-hour bus ride to Nurnberg, where they will be for the next three weeks finalising their preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Nurnberg is an hour’s drive from Munich.

Team spirit has been very high with coach Manu Garba again praising the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for making it possible for his team to fly overseas for maximum concentration.

“The NFF have done very well to get us out of the country for us to fully concentrate on the huge task ahead and we believe we will justify the confidence of Nigerians in this team,” he said.

The weather is cold and rainy, but goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo said they will cope.

“It is not as cold as some of us feared. We can cope with the weather,” said the Giwa FC shot stopper.

Fellow goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo was excited to make his first trip to Europe.

“I like what I see. I hope I can return to Europe soon to start a professional career,” said the goalkeeper, who was first choice at the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal in March.

The team are booked into Novina Hotel, Sudwestpark. Officials said the players will hit the gym today as the countdown to the World Cup continues.

The squad will be joined by four other Europe-based players in Germany, namely Isaac Success (Granada, Spain), Wilfred Ndidi (Genk, Belgium), Moses Simon (Gent, Belgium) and Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England).

All 21 players from the 2015 AYC triumph in Dakar, Senegal, are on the trip to Germany.

Nigeria have until May 15 to submit a final 21-man squad for the World Cup, which begins on May 30.

African champions Nigeria are drawn against Brazil, Hungary and North Korea.

They will be based in New Plymouth for their first round matches.

Enyimba star Kingsley Sokari was a second half substitute as Nigeria’s Flying Eagles trounced Abuja Football College 4-1 in a test game at the Abuja National Stadium on Friday to prepare them for next month’s Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Sokari was the last player to join the Flying Eagles training camp in Abuja and with just minutes to spare, he was denied by the goalkeeper in Friday’s test game.

It was a keen contest with the Flying Eagles eventually imposing themselves on a lively Abuja College team, who played part of the second half a man shot after a player was sent off.

After several early misses including Taiwo Awoniyi throwing away a sitter in the 10th minute, the Flying Eagles finally took the lead on 12 minutes when skipper Musa Muhammed converted a penalty for a foul inside the box.

The Flying Eagles then survived a scare in the 20th minute as Abuja College poured forward for an equalising goal.

The African champions doubled their lead in the 33rd minute when Ifeanyi Matthew fired home from deep inside the box.

Bernard Bulwa then saw his effort crash against the post in the 35th minute, before Ifeanyi Matthew also smashed his shot against the post from distance 10 minutes later.

Abuja College chased the game in the second half and were deservedly rewarded in the 55th minute through Nigeria Under-17 international Kingsley Michael, who capped an impressive showing with a confidently struck goal from inside the box.

On the hour, skipper Muhammed put away a second penalty after an opponent handled the ball inside the 18-yard box.

Substitute Christian Pyagbara put this game beyond Abuja College in the 82nd minute when he chipped over the goalkeeper.

Flying Eagles captain Musa Muhammed has said he wants to have the best tournament of his life and help Nigeria win the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The Nigeria U-20s are one of Africa’s representatives at this year’s U-20 World Cup and find themselves in group E, alongside favourites Brazil, as well as Hungary and North Korea. And Muhammed says he’s hoping to break Nigeria’s jinx of not winning the U-20 World Cup.

“We have been working hard and the goal is simple: to win the World Cup. We have a tough group ahead and it’s going to take a lot of work for us to get ahead of them, so we have to work harder.

“On a personal note, I want to have the best time of my career and the best tournament of my career and in the process help my country win the World Cup,” he said.

The 18-year-old also spoke about Nigeria’s group and says they are not paying special attention to any particular team, but will take it one game at a time.

“We are not looking at giving special attention to any particular team. We just want to prepare and take it one game at a time,” he stated.

Captain of the Flying Eagles of Nigeria Musa Mohammed, who reportedly absconded from the camp of the Nigeria Under-23s, is presently training with the Under-20.

Musa, according to handlers of the Nigeria Under-23s, left the camp without consent ahead of their all important second leg game in the All Africa Games (AAG) qualifier against Zambia in Lusaka.

Initial reports suggest the Africa Youth Championship (AYC) top scorer travelled to Germany en-route to Turkey but SL10.ng learnt he didn’t travel as reported.

Flying Eagles team sources revealed there is confusion as to why the player left the team camp as he has his own story which is different from the one told by the handlers of the team.

However, doubts still persists if he travelled out as he was among the earliest to arrive for the team camp when they resumed training for preparations for the Under-20 World cup in New Zealand.

Linked with several European teams, the FC Hart full back reportedly will make a move after the World cup after he failed to secure visa to travel to where he was suppose to sign a pre-contract.

In the past, Besiktas were rumoured to have been favourite for his signature but latest reports indicates teams from the German Bundesliga and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria are also keen for his services.

Allnigeriasoccer.com understands that majority of the Flying Eagles players have been issued visas to Germany.

Just like the 2013 Fifa Under 20 World Cup, the Nigeria Under 20s will have a get – together in Europe before the start of the competition.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the squad and their officials will depart the country on Tuesday, April 28 for the training camp in Germany.

The invited foreign – based professionals will link up with the team in Germany before they head to New Zealand towards the end of next month.

Nigeria are in Group E of the tournament alongside Brazil, Hungary and North Korea.