Nigeria’s Flying Eagles shoved aside every opposition at the just concluded Orange African Under-20 Championship in Senegal to claim their seventh title as well as book their passage to the upcoming 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
That hard-earned victory at the African championship on West African soil set Nigeria up to open their title account at the global stage in Group E together with Brazil, Korea DPR and Hungary.
The two of the powerhouses of world football, Brazil and Nigeria will square up in the group’s mouth-watering opener on Monday, June 01 at Taranaki Stadium in New Plymouth before the tricky clashes against Asian giants, Korea DPR and Hungary on June 04 and 07 in New Plymouth respectively.
Nigeria has raised the bar with their almost flawless performance in Senegal to make bookmakers to start looking at the West African side as the next heir apparent to repeat the feat of their neighbours, Ghana in the same competition on African soil, in Egypt in 2009. The nation has notched up good performances in age-grade competitions in the past to elicit high expectations of a possible first world title in the U-20 group after being runners-up in 1985, 2005 and 2013 in Turkey.
Coach Manu Garba, who guided the Flying Eagles to claim the African title in Senegal, appears to have the magic wand to win titles across the globe. Garba took the Golden Eaglets after a runners-up effort behind winners, Ivory Coast in Morocco at the African cadet championship to win the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
Prior to this he was part and parcel of the late coach Theophilus Adeyemi Tella’s team that won the world title in Korea in 2007 and as a player winning the Orange African Under-20 Championship in 1983.
He appears to have mastered the arithmetic of using an unknown quantity of players to achieve landmark results.
“The team is the future of Nigerian football. We have only two players from the Nigerian Premier League with the rest from academies which is a good sign for the development of Nigerian football,” said Garba.
Garba was bullish at the prospect of confronting heavyweights, Brazil, Korea and Hungary in New Zealand, insisting that his side have an equal chance of success like any other opponent.
“Every team that will be at the World Cup has equal opportunities of winning the World Cup, so let’s not start thinking one team is the favourite.
“I believe every team that has qualified is good because they wouldn’t be there if they were not.
“So, whether we are playing Brazil or not doesn’t bother me at all. It’s the same thing and all the teams will go there and prove what they can do,” he said.
Though the Flying Eagles were firm and ruthless in their first two matches at the recently concluded championship against hosts, Senegal and Congo Brazzaville which they won massively 3-1 and 4-1 respectively, the last group game against Ivory Coast exposed the side as far from impervious. That trend was equally glaring against Ghana and Senegal.
This has caused both fans and many a pundit to recommended the injection of key members of the Golden Eaglets’ World Cup-winning side like Kelechi Iheanacho, Isaac Success, Chidiebere Nwakali, Chidera Eze, Dele Alampasu, among others to complement the good work of equally talented players like Taiwo Awoniyi, Musa Mohammed, Obinna Nwobodo, Christian Pyagbara, Bernard Bulbwa, Omego Prince, Enaholo Joshua and Olorunleke Ojo.
The concern here is that Nigeria cannot afford to go to New Zealand to merely add up the numbers but indeed challenge for the title having come close to lifting it three times.
As per the Eagles’ opponents, Brazil progressed to the final phase of the South American Under-20 Championship as Group B runners-up behind Uruguay to whom they lost and finishing a distant fourth with an uninspiring seven points.
Brazil adopted a defensive set-up at the South American Under-20 Championship and with it they struggled for goals. They failed to score in four of their nine games and only posted more than two goals once. That is most likely to change in New Zealand against opposition from Nigeria, Korea and Hungary as the side are highly favoured to progress from the group.
Korea DPR missed out at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey 2013 and entered the Asian qualifying race desperately seeking their return to the global showpiece in 2015. They duly achieved that goal by reaching the final of the AFC Under-19 Championship only to be edged out by Qatar by 1-0 to claim one of Asia’s four qualifying spots in New Zealand. Korea’s fighting spirit trademark as well as soaking up pressure before hitting opponents on the break will be on display in New Zealand. The Asian side may be lacking in international experience but rivals will write them off at their own peril.
Hungary have participated in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup on five occasions, the first four of which saw them eliminated at the group stage (Tunisia 1977, Japan 1979, USSR 1985 and Malaysia 1997).
Their best-ever tournament performance came the last time they qualified in Egypt in 2009 when they lost to eventual winners, Ghana in the semi-finals and beat Costa Rica on penalties in the third-place play-off.
Nigeria, meanwhile, have qualified for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup more often than any other African team and stand a good chance to navigate their way from the group stage with a clinical performance in the opener against Brazil.
Dave Beeche, tournament Local Organising Committee (LOC) chief executive, sums it up for all when he said: “We are thrilled by the quality of the countries that have qualified for the tournament. African countries have a proud track record in this competition and we expect one or two of them to be in contention deep into the knockout phase.”
