The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Flying Eagles

  • Stay focused, Eguma urges Flying Eagles

    Stay focused, Eguma urges Flying Eagles

    Dolphins of Port Harcourt Manager, Stanley Eguma has urged the Flying Eagles to be focused in their remaining matches at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

    Eguma was reacting to the national team’s 1-0 victory over South Korea to qualify for the round of 16. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Thursday that although Nigeria won, they need to be more professional in front of goal.

    “We played well, but you will agree with me that our players lost several scoring chances. I urge the coaching crew to work on the finishing ability of the team, to make them utilise all their scoring opportunities in order to progress further in the competition.”

    Eguma reminded the team to remain focused and concentrate more in the defence and attack.

    “I want Coach John Obuh to organise his defence and make it concentrate more and not concede cheap goals. I congratulate the team for the victory because the South Koreans were equally good and gave a good account of themselves,’’ he said.

    Dolphins Media Officer, China Acheru also commended the Flying Eagles for defeating the South Koreans.

    “The boys have done well and I believe they will still do well in the second round of the tournament.

    “They should remain focused and take all their chances,’’ he said.

  • WYC: Flying Eagles qualifies for Round of 16

    WYC: Flying Eagles qualifies for Round of 16

    The Flying Eagles of Nigeria qualified for the Round of 16 at the ongoing FIFA U-20 championship in Turkey courtesy of a one nil victory over South Korea. The only goal of the game was scored in the ninth minutes of the encounter by Olanrewaju Kayode.

    The Flying Eagles dominated the game but as evident in their previous two matches, they failed to convert numerous chances. The team will play the second-place side from Group F in the next round.

    The Asian will wait on other results to know their future in the tournament.

  • WYC: Ex-Sunshine stars coach tips F/Eagles for 2nd round

    WYC: Ex-Sunshine stars coach tips F/Eagles for 2nd round

    Former Sunshine Stars head coach, Abimbola Samuel, is positive the Flying Eagles will overcome South Korea in Thursday’s last group game at the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.

    Nigeria’s Flying Eagles is third in Group B on three points, one point adrift leaders, Portugal and the second-placed South Korea.

    Supersport.com reports that the coach John Obuh-tutored side needs an outright victory against the South Korea to qualify for the round of 16 of the biennial global football fiesta.

    Samuel said Nigeria’s “never-say-die” mentality will see the Flying Eagles leapfrog their Asian opponents.

    “I’m sure Nigeria will move ahead to the next stage of the competition at the expense of the South Koreans.

    “I watched the team’s second group game against Cuba and I became convinced that the side will go far in the competition.

    “Nigeria’s never-say-die attitude will see them through, it’s characteristic of our teams to come out with their best whenever they find themselves in a very tight corner.

    “The side’s biggest challenge remains converting chances I’m sure the handlers must have seen and addressed the loopholes and would have spoken to the forwards especially to calm down when faced with scoring opportunities,” said the former Flying Eagles assistant coach to Supersport.com.

  • WYC: Flying Eagles will pick 2nd round ticket – NFF

    WYC: Flying Eagles will pick 2nd round ticket – NFF

    The Nigeria Football Federation scribe, Musa Amadu, has expressed confidence in the ability of the Flying Eagles to pick a second round ticket after last round of matches on Thursday.
    Amadu, who spoke exclusively to The Nationsports said the boys have overcome the initial setback against Portugal in their first match and with the 3-0 victory over the Cubans, the John Obuh tutored team is ready to make Nigeria proud at the tourney.
    “I am confident that the Flying Eagles will get the second round ticket after today’s match. I have been in touch with the boys and they are in a very good frame of mind. They have restored their confidence after losing the first match to Portugal.
    “Their victory over Cuba is the propelling factor for them. I don’t see the Koreans withstanding their fireworks in their last match on Thursday.
    I want Nigerians to continue to pray for them, and not relenting in giving their unflinching support to the team. The players are determined to do us proud,” he added.

  • WYC: Ajagun promises fight back

    WYC: Ajagun promises fight back

    Flying Eagles skipper, Abduljaleel Ajagun, has promised a fight back by the team after Friday’s 3-2 loss to Portugal in the ongoing U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

    “We are all disappointed we lost the game, but we are also looking forward to our next game against Cuba on Monday,” said Ajagun, whose two second-half goals were not enough to stop Portugal’s victory in front of over 10,000 fans at the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri.

    “We will improve in our next game and score the goals that will get us back in the competition.”

    MTNFootball.com reports that coach John Obuh also said the match against Cuba should now be the focus.

    “It was a keenly contested game but unfortunately we lost, this was not what we had hoped for,” Obuh said.

    “We have to take the defeat in good faith so as to face the next game because we have to qualify to the next round.”

     

     

  • Go for gold at FIFA U-20 World Cup, Glo tasks Flying Eagles

    Go for gold at FIFA U-20 World Cup, Glo tasks Flying Eagles

    The Major Sponsor of Nigerian National Teams, Globacom has tasked the Flying Eagles to make the country proud at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup kicking off in Turkey on Friday.

    Nigeria takes on Portugal in the opening Group B game and will battle Cuba on June 24 before wrapping up the group games with South Korea on June 27.

    A Globacom statement on Thursday in Lagos expressed confidence in the junior national team to live up to expectation when the global competition gets underway.

    “We have observed the Flying Eagles’ preparation for the World Cup and are convinced that they will perform creditably,” the statement said.

    Globacom stated that the Nigerian team’s pedigree in this competition is not in doubt, adding that history often counts.

    “We also believe that the team has quality players to deliver the goods, and the fact that there has not been any distraction in their preparation will be an added advantage,” said the company.

    “Though Nigeria is yet to win the Under-20 World Cup, we have a tradition of progressing far in the tournament and we believe we have all it takes at this time to make history. We call on all Nigerians to pray for the team to excel,” the statement concluded.

    Globacom is the official telecommunications partner of the Nigeria Football Federation and the major sponsor of the Nigerian national teams.

  • FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP: Flying Eagles may play without crowd

    FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP: Flying Eagles may play without crowd

    Flying Eagles of Nigeria might play with less or without crowd when they take on Portugal tomorrow in their opening game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the city of Kayseri, Turkey.

    Low ticket sales has become a source of worry as only 300,000 of the 1.3 million tickets available for the championship which runs from June 21 to July 13 have been sold.

    Kadir Stadium in Kaseri, where the John Obuh led boys will begin their quest for glory, is a 30’419 capacity stadium opened in 2009 and serves as home ground for two teams in the upper echelons of Turkey’s professional leagues; Kayserispor and Kayseri Erciyesspor.

    With the lull in tickets sales there are no guarantees that the stadium will be half or full to capacity.

    Local organizers, however, said they were confident more tickets would be sold, predicting the total sold would double to 600,000.

    Meanwhile Jim Boyce, chairman of the tournament organizing committee, acknowledged that security has been beefed up for the tournament following continued civil unrest in the country. He said FIFA security experts were comfortable with arrangements for the 24 teams and spectators in the seven host cities and predicted there wouldn’t be problems with security.

    The U.S. team will play Spain in Group A in Istanbul, about 10 miles from the protests. The team arrived Sunday and hasn’t seen signs of trouble.

    “In terms of security, we feel secure and we feel we are in a good place and Turkey is a great place to be right now,” Coach Tab Ramos told The Associated Press.

  • World Cup: Flying Eagles tackles German team in last warm-up match

    World Cup: Flying Eagles tackles German team in last warm-up match

    The Flying Eagles will on Saturday, take on SpVgg Unterhaching, a German lower league side in its last warm-up match before the FIFA U-20 World Cup tournament in Turkey.

    The team’s Media Officer, Samm Audu who made this known in a statement on Tuesday, added that the match will kick off at 1 p.m Nigerian time.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team is currently fine-tuning its preparations for the 19th edition of the world cup billed to hold from June 21 to July 13 in Turkey.

    The team had to move its camp earlier in the week to Ebbs/Tirol in neighbouring Austria, after their return from the Toulon International Tournament in France.

    According to the statement, the Flying Eagles will after the match on Saturday fly to Frankfurt on June 17 en route Turkey.

    “They will play their two first round matches against Portugal on June 21 and Cuba on June 24 in Kayseri.

    “Their other group game will be in Istanbul against South Korea on June 27,’’ the statement added.

  • Flying Eagles return to Germany

    Flying Eagles return to Germany

    The Flying Eagles will head back to their training base in Germany on Sunday after they took part in the Toulon International Tournament in France.

    The Toulon Tournament was won by Brazil, who pipped Colombia 1-0, while France beat Portugal 2-1 in the third-place playoff.

    The Nigeria U-20 team will leave their hotel at Le Castellet by 1pm and fly out by 5pm local time from Marseille for the one and the half hour flight to Munich.

    The nine players dropped from the squad are expected to leave for their various bases on Monday morning. The players are Sakiru Alimi, Lucky Omeruo, Sebastine Osigwe, Bright Ejike, Jamilu Collins, Hassan Abubakar, Daniel Etor, Samuel Mathias and Oluwasemilogo Ajayi.

    On Saturday, the Flying Eagles thrashed French lower league side FC Seynois 4-0 with goals from Moses Orkuma, Olanrewaju Kayode, Umar Aminu and skipper Abduljaleel Ajagun.

    Several of the first-team players who did not feature at the Toulon Tournament, namely goalkeeper Jonah Usman, Chidi Osuchukwu, Agboyi Ovbokha and Chizoba Amaefule were on parade.

    Two test games have been lined up for the team in Germany. The team are then due in Turkey on June 17 and play their opening 2013 U20 World Cup group match four days later against Portugal in Kayseri.

    They will also take on Cuba and South Korea in the first round of the tournament.

  • WYC: Obuh releases Flying Eagles list

    WYC: Obuh releases Flying Eagles list

    Nigeria has named a final 21-man squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, which kicks off on June 20, MTNFootball.com reports.

    A member of the Golden Eaglets Wilfred Ndidi, a highly promising central defender, is one of the several additions to the squad.

    The squad is drawn mostly from the Nigeria league, which provides 18 players, with three foreign-based players.

    The foreign-based players are – Belgium-based goalkeeper John Felegha, Michael Olaitan from Greek champions Olympiacos and Edafe Egbedi of Danish club AGF Aarhus.

    16 of these players featured at the 2013 African Youth Championship in Algeria, where Nigeria placed third to qualify for the World Cup.

    The team was knocked out by France in the quarterfinals of the 2011 World Cup in Colombia.

    Nigeria is drawn in the first round against Portugal, debutants Cuba and South Korea.

    Flying Eagles opening game is on June 21 against Portugal.

     

     

    The Flying Eagles squad:

     

    Goalkeepers: Samuel Okani (Enyimba), Jonah Usman (ABS FC), John Felegha (Eupen, Belgium)

    Defenders: Shehu Abdullahi (Kano Pillars), Moses Orkuma (Lobi Stars), Ikechukwu Okorie (Enyimba), Kingsley Madu (El Kanemi), Chizoba Amaefule (Dolphins), Wilfred Ndidi (Nath Boys)

    Midfielders: Agboyi Ovbokha (Bayelsa United), Abduljaleel Ajagun (Dolphins), Christian Pyagbara (unattached), Uche Agbo (Enyimba), Michael Olaitan (Olympiacos, Greece)

    Forwards: Edafe Egbedi (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Daddy Moses Simon (Unattached), Chidi Osuchukwu (Dolphins), Umar Aminu (Wikki Tourists), Olanrewaju Kayode (unattached), Alhaji Gero (Enugu Rangers), Samuel Eduok (Dolphins).