The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GARBA

  • Garba thumbs up Gombe Utd’s response

    Garba thumbs up Gombe Utd’s response

    Gombe United head coach, Manu Garba  has praised his players for the way they surged back to life against El Kanemi Warriors in their second match of the North East pre-season tournament after their opening day loss to Wikki Tourists.

    The Desert Scorpions were pegged back 1-0 by Wikki Tourists after Mubarak Umar scored Bauchi side’s lone goal but they regained their composure in their second game against El Kanemi Warriors whom they beat 2-0 and Garba, who is also the head coach of the Nigeria’s U-17 team thumbed up his lads for the feat achieved against the Borno Army.

    Garba told Goal: “The loss to Wikki Tourists was an eye opener and I am satisfied with the way my boys came back against El Kanemi Warriors. We are gradually reaching our rhythm but we won’t be carried away by this result because we still have a lot to correct before declaring that we are ready for the season.”

  • Garba rejects NFF’s offer

    Former Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba has turned down an offer from the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to coach the Nigeria U-17 national team.

    On Wednesday, the NFF announced the promotion of Amuneke to the Flying Eagles in a communiqué released  after  its executive board meeting held on Tuesday.

    It was gathered that the NFF had ratified that the former Flying Eagles coach will return to handle the Golden Eaglets but when he was approached he rejected the offer.

    Garba had won the U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirate in 2013 but failed to see the Flying Eagles beyond the second round stage of FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand last year.

    Meanwhile, the NFF are racing against time to fill the void left by Amuneke in coming weeks.

    The reigning U-17 World champions have been drawn against the Baby Menas of Niger Republic to qualify for the 2017 African U-17 Championship billed for Madagascar.

  • Garba warns players ahead of Germany trip

    Garba warns players ahead of Germany trip

    Ahead of their training tour of Germany, Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has warned his players that they are not embarking on a jamboree.

    The 30 players currently in camp are travelling to Germany for a training tour, where they will be joined by the other invited overseas-based players and Manu has said in no unclear terms that the players’ futures in the team will be decided there.

    “The players we are taking to the World Cup will be decided there so they must keep working hard. They mustn’t think going to Germany means going to the World Cup because if they stop working hard, they stop making the team.

    “Going to Germany is not for sightseeing or jamboree, it is our final leg of preparation and the players must show more zeal and commitment if they are to make the final team because that is what we are going there to do and nothing else,” he said.

    Manu also admitted that he and his coaching crew already have an idea of some of the players that will make the final squad, but insists they will only make their final decisions after their German exercise.

    “From our training sessions so far we have some ideas but nothing will be decided until we have finished our preparations in Germany.”

  • Flying Eagles still work in progress – Garba

     

    Despite the Flying  Eagles’ five star  second half performance against the host, the Black Satellites of Ghana in yesterday’s second international friendly match held at the yet to be completed Tema Sports Stadium, the Nigerian team’s Chief Coach Manu Garba has described his team as work in progress.

    The Flying Eagles had shone like the morning star in the second half pointing towards being ready for the Africa Youth Championship as the Ghanaian fans thronged around the players and officials showering encomiums on them and calling the Nigerian team  Arsenal team of Africa for playing free flow football against their team.

    But this did not convince Garba who believes there is still much work to be dione to get it ready for the AYC.

    Captain of the Nigerian team Musa Muhammed set the ball rolling by converting a spot kick for Nigeria’s first goal in the 70th minute after a Ghanaian defender had handled the ball in the penalty box while Ifeanyi Mathew scored the Flying Eagles second goal that could be described as a canon and television goal in the added time after collecting a see me through pass from pass master Wasiu Jimoh.

    What made the second friendly encounter more interesting was that Ghana Coach Silas Tetteh fielded only three players that played the first match and also substituted five players in the second half all to stop the superior fireworks of the Nigerian team but to no avail.

    Garba, in his reaction after the match told SportingLife: “In the first game some of our boys were casual. So we did talk to them that this is not just an ordinary friendly match and that whenever they score a goal they should try as much as possible to protect the goal and they must try as much as possible to score some goals. But the most important thing is that the boys played well especially in the second half. That was why you saw good, compact, good movement and attacking football in the second half. I believe that they played better than the first match that we played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Monday.

    “But that notwithstanding there are still a lot of mistakes that we need to correct not minding the fact that this is not the real team we are presenting at the Africa Youth Championship. There are still other quality players fighting for shirts in this team. We left seven players at home and we have two more players coming to join us. So by the time we select the best 21 for the AYC , I think the team will be much more stronger than the one you see here today”, Garba said.

  • Garba: Flying Eagles will camp in Gambia

    Garba: Flying Eagles will camp in Gambia

    Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba has told sl10.ng that his team will have a training camp in The Gambia, prior to the Africa Youth Championship in Senegal.

    The Nigerian U-20’s are preparing for the AYC in Senegal, and have been involved in several preparatory games for the tournament; the latest being the Super 6, which they won comfortably in Abuja.

    And as part of the team’s preparations, Manu tells sl10.ng that he and his wards will have a training camp in Banjul, before departing for Senegal.

    “After our games against Ghana, we will travel to Banjul, Gambia for a training camp before we travel to Senegal for the Africa Youth Championship. We have submitted the program to the Nigeria Football Federation and they have approved it, we just have to get ready,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the NFF have refused to comment on the development, but sl10.ng has gathered that there will be at least one training camp abroad for the team, before they travel to Senegal.

    Sl10.ng has also gathered that there will be two friendly matches against Ghana’s U-20 team, who are also preparing for the AYC.

    The Flying Eagles are in Group A of the competition, and were drawn with hosts Senegal, Cote d’ Ivoire and Congo.

  • Garba fears Alampasu could miss AYC

    Garba fears Alampasu could miss AYC

    Flying Eagles coach,  Manu Garba, has confirmed that first choice goalkeeper Dele Alampasu will miss out of the Africa Youth Championship(AYC) if he doesn’t join the team as soon as possible.

    Alampasu,who shone brightly as Nigeria won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013, has been in and out of the team as he seeks to sign a professional contract abroad,with recent reports linking him with clubs in Belgium.

    And with second choice Anthony Enaholo proving to be a capable replacement, Manu has admitted that the highly rated Alampasu will miss out of the tournament if he fails to show up before the provisional squad is announced.

    “Dele Alampasu is still in our plans but we understand he is yet to sign a contract in Europe and he can always join us the moment he signs. But if he doesn’t come before the final provisional list is made, he will be out of the tournament,” Manu told SL10.ng.

    The Flying Eagles continued their impressive form as they beat two-time African champions and the more experienced Enyimba 2-0 with 10 men in their opening fixture of the ongoing Super Six tourney in Abuja.

    Next up for the Flying Eagles are Nigerian league champions, Kano Pillars today.

  • Garba: Iheanacho, Nwakali won’t be missed

    Garba: Iheanacho, Nwakali won’t be missed

    Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba says his team will not be affected by the impending absence of Manchester City duo, Kelechi Iheanacho and Chiediebere Nwakali at the Africa Youth Championship in Senegal.

    The duo of Iheanacho and Nwakali are set to miss the Championship after their club, Manchester City informed the Nigeria Football Federation that both players will not be available for national team selection for different reasons.

    18-year old’s Nwakali and Iheanacho were called up for Nigeria’s participation at the Youth Championship but in a correspondence sent to the NFF on Tuesday, the English champions intimated that while, Iheanacho is injured, Nwakali is set for a loan move away from the club.

    But Manu, who discovered both players for Nigeria’s 2013 class of U-17’s, says he has other players at his disposal that can replace Iheanacho and Nwakali.

    “The team is not built around any one player, as we have several players that can come in and do the job we want. I would say we have adequate replacements for every position on the team,” Manu told sl10.ng.

    But despite sounding unperturbed about the impending absence of the two players, Manu admitted that the players will be missed.

    “Both of them have been with us since the U-17 and when you lose such players, you will miss them. They are very good players but it is unfortunate what has happened. But like I said, I believe we have players that will replace them,” he added.

  • Garba hopes for a good AYC

    Garba hopes for a good AYC

    The coach of Flying Eagles, Manu Garba has expressed confidence that his team will be successful at the 2015 Africa Youth Championship, Senegal 2015, even as his team is drawn in a tough group that has hosts Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo.

    “Our group seems to be tougher than the other group which has Ghana, Mali, Zambia and South Africa, but I believe we will qualify to the semi-finals along with Cote d’Ivoire,” said Manu.

    “But this is not to say that all the eight teams are not good enough to win the competition and so we will expect no favours from any of them.

    “There will be no easy groups or matches. We therefore have to prepare very well and be motivated to achieve our targets.”

    The Flying Eagles class of 2015 are built around the country’s U17 team who won the FIFA U17 World Cup last year in the United Arab Emirates.

    Last year, they suffered defeats at the hands of African U17 champions Cote d’Ivoire at the U17 championship in Morocco.

    However, Manu has insisted they will not be seeking revenge when both teams clash again in Senegal.

    “We are not driven to avenge the loss in Morocco because this will be a different competition and we will have two different teams from the ones from last year,” he argued.

    “We respect Cote d’Ivoire because they have a great footballing culture, but we hope to beat any team we come up against.”

    The African Youth Championship will be played between March 8 and 22.

    The Flying Eagles have won a record six AYC titles with their last triumph being in 2011. They finished third last year in Algeria.

    The semi-finalists will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

  • 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.

     

  • Garba names 20 players for Morocco friendly

    Garba names 20 players for Morocco friendly

    Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has selected 20 players for Nigeria’s friendly with Morocco next week.

    The Nigeria Under-20 team are billed to face their Moroccan counterparts in a two-legged friendly encounter in Casablanca on the 9th and 11th of April.

    Prominent amongst the players selected are Taiwo Awoniyi, Musa Yahaya, Wilfred Ndidi, Alhasaan Ibrahim and Abdullahi Alfa.

    The team beat Lugbe United 12-0 in a friendly game played on Thursday, with both Awoniyi and Ibrahim notching hat-tricks.

    The side are scheduled to depart for the North African country early on Sunday morning.