The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Flying Eagles

  • Flying Eagles not distracted by Iheanacho’s absence

    Flying Eagles not distracted by Iheanacho’s absence

    Flying Eagles’ assistant coach, Nduka Ugbade, says they are not distracted by the imminent absence of midfielders, Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali from the team to the Africa Youth Championship (AYC) in Senegal.

    The U-20’s are presently fine-tuning preparations for the tournament in Kaduna, but were dealt a huge blow when it was confirmed by English champions, Manchester City that they would not be releasing the duo of Iheanacho and Nwakali for the Africa Youth Championship.

    But despite the seeming setback, Ugbade says he and the other coaches of the team are focused on the task at hand, which is to win the championship, and are not distracted by the impending absence of Nwakali and Iheanacho.

    “We are not distracted by anything; we are focused on the challenge at hand. The target is to win the Africa Youth Championship and that is what we are working on at the moment. Iheanacho and Nwakali are good players but we have enough cover here and I don’t think their absence should be any problem,” Ugbade said.

    However, despite the setback, the team is about to get a boost, with the imminent arrivals of Chidera Ezeh and Musa Yahaya from FC Porto and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

  • AYC: Yahaya, Eze confirm arrival dates

    AYC: Yahaya, Eze confirm arrival dates

    Tottenham Hotspur youth team forward, Musa Yahaya and Chidera Eze, who features for the youth team of FC Porto, have confirmed their arrival dates to the Flying Eagles training camp.

    According to Flying Eagles team secretary, Auwal Aliyu Ibrahim, Yahaya will join the team on January 16 after he would have finished playing in an invitational tournament involving Tottenham youth team in Malaysia.

    Eze, on the other hand, will join the team’s Kaduna training camp on January 15, africanFootball.com reports.

    Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba, has given a January 15 deadline for all invited foreign-based professionals to join the squad.

    Aliyu Ibrahim further disclosed he expects to get confirmation on the arrival of Manchester City pair of Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali as well as Slovakia-based Moses Simon and Kingsley Madu later this week.

    The team is expected to feature in an expanded Super 4 tournament that will include the Olympic team, league champions Kano Pillars as well as Enyimba, Warri Wolves and Dolphins.

    The Super 4 is expected to begin on January 22 in Abuja.

  • U-20 foreign- based players get January 15 deadline

    U-20 foreign- based players get January 15 deadline

    Foreign based players invited by Flying Eagles handlers for preparation towards next year’s African Youth Championship have been given a January 15 deadline to report to camp.

    “All the invitations have been sent out to the foreign based players we need for the AYC and we have given them a deadline of January 15 to join us in Kaduna,” Flying Eagles secretary, Auwal Aliyu Ibrahim, told africanFootball.com.

    “So far we have received assurances from their various clubs that they will be available for the tournament in Senegal.”

    The invited foreign based players are – Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidiebere Nwakali, Isaac Success, Chidera Eze, Musa Muhammed, Kingsley Madu, Moses Simon, Taiwo Awoniyi and Musa Yahaya.

    The Flying Eagles training camp in Kaduna will reopen on Saturday after a week’s break for the Christmas holidays.

     

  • F/Eagles coach invites 30 players for AYC

    F/Eagles coach invites 30 players for AYC

    The Flying Eagles technical crew has called up nine foreign-based professionals and 21 other players based locally for a training camp in Kaduna from Saturday.

    This followed a screening exercise earlier this month also in Kaduna, sl10.ng reports.

    The foreign based players include Granada CF striker Isaac Success, Taiwo Awoniyi from Kalmar of Sweden as well as Manchester City pair of Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali.

    The team has been drawn in a tough Group A of the 2015 African Youth Championship along with hosts Senegal, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire.

    Nigeria opens its AYC campaign on March 8 against Senegal in Dakar.

    The six-time African champions will then battle Congo On March 11, before playing Cote d’Ivoire on March 14 in M’bour, which is 80 kilometres south of Dakar.

    The full squad:

    Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo, Dele Alampasu, Olorunleke Ojo, Adamu Abubakar

    Defenders: Kingsley Madu, Musa Muhammed, Mustapha Abdullahi, Wilfred Ndidi, Zaharadeen Bello, Prince Izu Omego

    Midfielders: Ifeanyi Matthew, Akinjide Idowu, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Obinna Nwobodo, Kingsley Sokari, Abdullahi Alfa, Chidiebere Nwakali

    Forwards: Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success, Kelechi Iheanacho, Usman Hassan, Alhassan Ibrahim, Sulaiman Abdullahi, Abubakar Lawal, Bernard Bulbwa, Chidera Eze, Billy Auta, Musa Yahaya, Moses Simon, Wasiu Jimoh.

     

  • Garba assesses Flying Eagles progress

    Garba assesses Flying Eagles progress

    The Flying Eagles of Nigeria concluded the first phase of their camping ahead of next year’s African Youth Championship on Friday 19 December 2014.

    After the exercise which lasted for one month, head coach of the team Manu Garba spoke with SL10.ng and gave his view on the progress made so far.

    On New Players Performance In Camp…

    Yes we have quite a few of them as usual who have impressed, but we need to see them compete with some of our regulars who are in Europe, some of them will be in the 30 man list we will continue with when we resume.

    On Foreign Based Players…

    For now we called up eight, but that is not all we intend to call and see more of them in camp. The truth is nobody is guaranteed a spot in this team, not even my captain. We looking to strengthen all positions in the team.

    On The Chances Of Gate Crashers…

    In the Camp we can only take 30, at most 35, so they cater for their accommodation and feeding, but we let them train with the team when we see they are better than what we have. We decamp and accommodate them in camp.

    On Doubts Over Isacc Success Availability…

    We are always ready to make up for any player absence, no doubt he is a fine player and key to our plans, but if he doesn’t make it we won’t miss him.

    Remember he got injured at the Under-17 World Cup and Taiwo Awoniyi stood up and more than made up for Success’ absence with vital goals and good play.

    Success wasn’t part of our qualifiers, but we were able to make it to the tournament proper.

    On Results Of Friendly Games…

    We have conceded just once and scored over 30 goals from four games. To people watching it’s good enough, but to me and my crew we still have work to do.

    Our strength at the Under-17 level was making few mistakes collectively as a team and I think bar our first game when we drew 3-3 we had a tournament with our players making less mistakes.

    I strive to create that same spirit and mentality in this team, and for now until I have the full complement of my team it is hard to do that.

    On Setting Targets…

    I always believe that second position means you weren’t good enough, so my eye is on the first prize.

    I try to make my players share in my belief, confidence and optimism of wanting to be champion at the Africa Youth Championship and World Youth Championship with style.

    When I say style I mean with goals and eye catching displays, the type that will be talked about years after the tournament and be used as a reference for future teams.

     

  • Iheanacho, Success lead foreign players to F/ Eagles camp

    Iheanacho, Success lead foreign players to F/ Eagles camp

    Manchester City starlet, Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success from Granada of Spain will lead seven other foreign based players to the Flying Eagles training camp in Kaduna ahead of next year’s African Youth Championship in Senegal.

    Manchester City has applied for a work permit for Iheanacho, while Success has already broken to the first team at his La Liga club, africanFootball.com reports.

    The two forwards have also been called up by the country’s U-23 team.

    Other foreign based players invited by the Flying Eagles coaching crew are – Chidiebere Nwakali (Manchester City/England), Taiwo Awoniyi (Kalmar/Sweden), Chidera Eze (FC Porto/Portugal), Daddy Moses ( AS Trencin/Slovakia), Kingsley Madu (AS Trencin/Slovakia), Musa Yahaya (Tottenham Hotspur/England) and Musa Muhammed ( Besiktas/Turkey).

    According to coach Manu Garba, the players are expected to join the Flying Eagles when the team’s training camp reopens on December 27.

    The coach also said he has received assurances that the players will be released by their clubs.

    The tournament starts on March 8 in Dakar, Senegal.

    The eight-team tournament will produce Africa’s four representatives to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

  • Flying Eagles go on break Dec. 20

    Flying Eagles go on break Dec. 20

    The Flying Eagles of Nigeria will go on Christmas break from December 20 and resume back in Kaduna a week later.

    The Flying Eagles have been training in Kaduna for a while, away from the Calabar camp that Manu Garba, the coach of the team, used the last time.

    Foreign-based stars like Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidiebere Nwakali, Chidera Eze and Musa Yahaya are expected to join up with the squad thereafter.

    The team will now commence on a series of friendlies, starting from today.

  • FLYING EAGLES BEGIN TEST MATCHES THURSDAY

    FLYING EAGLES BEGIN TEST MATCHES THURSDAY

    Nigeria U20 team, the Flying Eagles, will begin playing test matches at their Kaduna training base from Thursday.

    The team have been training in Kaduna for about a week now. Their first match will be against Jamba Academy of Kaduna and it will kick off by 7am at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna. They will play a second game on Saturday morning against Standard FC of Zaria at the same venue. Another series of training matches are fixed for next week.

    Each half of the test match will last an hour and be played by different set of players as the Flying Eagles continue to scout for fresh talent to boost the squad of next year’s African Youth Championship in Senegal.

    Training has been rigorous with hundreds of hopefuls trooping into the Ahmadu Bello Stadium on a daily basis.

    In the meantime, the Flying Eagles will go on Christmas break from December 20 and resume in Kaduna a week later.

    Foreign-based stars like Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidiebere Nwakali, Chidera Eze and Musa Yahaya are expected to join up with the squad thereafter.

  • Flying Eagles call up 30 as screening begins in Kaduna

    Flying Eagles call up 30 as screening begins in Kaduna

    Nigeria U-20 team, the Flying Eagles, have called up 30 players as they begin a screening exercise in Kaduna on Sunday in preparations for next year’s African Youth Championship in Senegal.

    The 30 players called up are made up of the core of the squad who qualified the team for the 2015 AYC in Senegal from March and several players from the Nigeria Premier League.

    Enyimba star Kingsley Sokari, Tony Edjomariegwe from Nasarawa United as well as Musa Newman of Sunshine Stars are among the fresh call-ups.

    Jacob Njoku from Portuguese club FC Porto is the only foreign-based player invited.

    According to the Flying Eagles secretary Ibrahim Auwal Aliyu Ibrahim, the players are to report at the African Continental Hotel on Sokoto Road in Kaduna from Sunday.

    The team will train at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

    The invited players:

    Goalkeepers

    Joshua Enaholo, Adamu Abubakar, Olorunleke Ojo, Dele Alampasu

    Defenders

    Musa Muhammed, Ifeanyi Nweke, Mustapha Abdullahi, Zaharadden Bello, Prince Izu Omego, Adebayor Ademuluwa, Wilfred Ndidi, Sirajo Mazadu, Chinedu Chukwura Emmanuel  Midfielders

    Bernard Bulbwa, Ifeanyi Matthew, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Chizom Eze, Akinjide Idowu, Abdullahi Alfa, Obinna Nwobodo, Kingsley Sokari, Madu Chiamaka

    Strikers

    Jacob Njoku, Sulaiman Abdullahi, Abubakar Lawal, Wasiu Jimoh, Tony Edjomariegwe, Newman Musa, Usman Hassan, Adamu Muhammed Silo.

  • Ebola: Lesotho withdraws from AYC qualifier with Nigeria

    Ebola: Lesotho withdraws from AYC qualifier with Nigeria

    Lesotho has pulled out of this weekend’s final 2015 African Youth Championship against Nigeria after the country’s soccer federation expressed concerns over the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the country.

    “We have contacted the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and copied the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that we will not be coming for this game,” Lesotho Football Federation official, Limtho Mokhethi, told africanFootball.com on Friday.

    The Senegalese officials appointed for the game have already arrived Kaduna, where the match will be played.

    CAF will now to decide on the overall winners of this final qualifier.

    The 2015 AYC will be staged by Senegal from March 8, 2015.