The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OBUH

  • Obuh’s F/Eagles fly to Turkey

    Obuh’s F/Eagles fly to Turkey

    Beat DR Congo 3-1 to reach AYC semi-finals

    Battle Egypt in Ain Temouchent

     

    Defending African Youth Champions (U-20) Flying Eagles of Nigeria made light work of DR Congo winning 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals of the 2013 Orange CAF U-20 Championship during the final group B match played at Ahmed Zabana stadium in Oran. The holders will now face Egypt on Tuesday in Ain Temouchent.

    Flying Eagles captain Abduljeleel Ajagun opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 32nd minute after striker Edbedi Edafe was impeded as he ran onto a return ball inside the box from Abdullahi Shehu. Ajagun who also scored from the spot kick in the last match against Gabon sent Landu Bakala the wrong way. Six minutes later Congolese defenders stood-by appealing for offside and paid for it when Aminu Umar played to the whistle and side footed past Bakala from close range to make it two nil to Nigeria

    DR Congo who up until the two goals had been playing some attacking positive football looked shell shocked and were struggling to contain the Nigerians. The half time break didn’t seem to have helped the Congolese as they continued to allow the runs into their box go unchallenged. The Nigerians were exchanging short passes in-front a deep Congolese defence and on 47th minute Umar shook off Nekadio Luyindama before lobbing over advancing Bakala for his second and Nigeria’s third.

    From then on it was pretty much Nigeria dominating and Congo trying to recover and minimize the damage. As Nigerians created chance after chance but without really adding to the score line, Congolese coach, Lofoba Baudouim made some changes bring in Kubanza Ushindi and Chris Makengo. The substitutions breathed some new life into DR Congo and they were duly rewarded for their pressure when on 72nd minute Mukanisa Pembele hooked a left shot into the top left hand corner of Nigerian goal minder, Jonah Usman as the Congolese self- belief returned. It was however a charge made too late and Nigeria saw off the match to give coach John Obuh the late birthday present he asked for before the match. Obuh turned 53 on Thursday and had said the best present would be to lead his charges to the semis –finals.

  • Obuh to help Keshi with more players

    Obuh to help Keshi with more players

    Flying Eagles Coach John Obuh has stated his desire to continually churn out players who will go on to represent Nigeria at the highest level in the Super Eagles.

    Coach Obuh who currently is in Algeria for the Africa Youth Championships rolls out the impressive list of players that he has seen through the ranks to the national team and has promised to even do more in the days ahead.

    “As a developmental coach, my target remains to produce as many players for the super Eagles as possible,” Obuh said in an interview in Oran, Algeria with the Media Officer of the Flying Eagles.

    The Coach made mention of some of his players already doing well under Coach Stephen Keshi adding that many more are waiting in the wings to grab their chance once it comes their way.

    “Kenneth (Omeruo), Ahmed Musa and Ogenyi Onazi were from my team who went on to play at the recent AFCON, but I believe there are many more players who played under me who could still feature for the Super Eagles,” Obuh said.

    He added: “Ramon Azeez is a midfielder I rate very highly, there is also Olanrewaju Kayode, Ajagun and even some from the present team who will also take their chance in the Eagles, if they get it.”

    Coach Obuh will today lead his team out against the Eagles of Mali in Nigeria’s first game at this year’s AYC.

  • Obuh sure of F/Eagles despite Esperance loss

    Obuh sure of F/Eagles despite Esperance loss

    FLYING Eagles coach John Obuh has reassured his team will be up to the task at the 2013 AYC even after they lost 2-1 to Esperance in a bruising warm-up on Saturday.

    The Nigeria youth team lost their first test game to Tunisia U20s 2-0 on Thursday.

    “The result was again not what we expected, but the performance of the team has reassured us we will be the team to beat in Algeria,” Obuh said after the match played at the El Menzah Stadium training pitch in Tunis.

    “It was a good game but we have to work on our goal scoring and I expect the players not to lose their composure even when the referee has made a few bad calls.

    “All the same, I believe in this team. We have worked very hard and we will continue to work even harder to ensure the best for Nigeria.”

    The Nigeria U20s controlled the first half against the two-time African champions, who lined up a very strong starting XI that included new signings Emmanuel Clottey from Becham Chelsea of Ghana and Nigerian-born winger Emeka Emerum as well as Tunisia internationals Houcine Ragued and Wajdi Bouazzi.

    The Flying Eagles created the best chances in a goalless first half and will again have to blame their finishing for not going ahead in this test game.

    Christian Pyabara had an effort blocked by goalkeeper Wassim Naouara from inside the box after 27 minutes and in the 35th minute, skipper Abduljaleel Ajagun failed to make the most of a free header right inside the box.

    The biggest chance of the first period fell to Pyabara when he only had to guide the ball into an empty net after a great work from the left by Alhaji Gero, but somehow he skied his effort over the bar.

    Esperance, who brought in Ghana international defender Harrison Afful, Algeria star Antar Yahia and first-choice goalkeeper Moez Ben Charifia after the interval, took the lead in the 50th minute when goalkeeper Jonah Usman failed to clear the ball and in the ensuing melee that involved Emerum, Lampjed Chehoudi fired home.

    The perennial Tunisian champions doubled their advantage two minutes later when Kingsley Madu brought down Clottey inside the box and skipper Khalid Chammam tucked away the spot kick.

    Nigeria midfielder Moses Orkuma was sent off for retaliation in the 59th minute.

    However, substitute Umar Aminu pulled a goal back for the African youth champions in the 67th minute after a flowing team play.

    The Flying Eagles finished stronger as they continued to fight for the equaliser, but Esperance held out to barely shade a hard-fought encounter.

    The Nigeria U20s are slated to test their readiness for the AYC in Algeria with two more test games against Club Africain and the Esperance U20 team.

     

    Flying Eagles vs Esperance

    Johan Usman – Shehu Abdullahi, Kingsley Madu, Chizoba Amaefule, Ikechukwu Okorie – Ovboka Agboyi (Mikel Agu 49), Moses Orkuma (Uche Agbo 62), Abduljaleel Ajagun – Chidi Osuchukwu (Umar Aminu 60), Alhaji Gero, Christian Pyabara (Bright Ejike 76).

  • Obuh: Flying Eagles’ 23-man squad ready

    Obuh: Flying Eagles’ 23-man squad ready

    Flying Eagles John Obuh has said he has in his head 23 players likely to make his final squad for the African Youth Championship in Algeria.

    March 6 is the deadline for the AYC finalists to submit their final 21-man, but Nigeria plan to send through their final squad ahead of this date.

    “I have a good idea of my squad, I have about 23 players, and so just need to drop two of them and we have the final squad,” Obuh said.

    “I will now have to concentrate on these players now.”

    There are currently 29 players at the team’s training camp in Tunisia with only Denmark-based Edafe Egbedi still being expected.

    Obuh said the Tunisia loss on Thursday was an eye opener for him as he tried to give all squad members a chance to stake a claim on the main squad.

    “It was a test game that showed the players who are ready for the tournament and those who are not,” he said.

    “We had a better game when I introduced some of the players I have played more often before. But the damage had been done by the first set of players and those who replaced them were not relaxed and were too anxious to score but they could not.”

  • CAN U-17 QUALIFIER Obuh warns Eaglets coaches on Mali threat

    CAN U-17 QUALIFIER Obuh warns Eaglets coaches on Mali threat

    NIGERIA’S Under-20 coach John Obuh has warned his U-17 colleague Manu Garba not to underrate their Malian opponents when they clash in today’s Africa Junior Championship final round qualifier saying the game will be the team’s real test in their quest for the ticket to Morocco 2013.

    The Golden Eaglets have been receiving lots of commendations for their performance so far in the qualifier and Obuh said the coach must ensured that the team is not carried away by their achievement so far.

    “They really have to be at their best; they have to work for it (getting a win). They should not be overconfidence and they should not also try to play to what people expect.

    “He (coach) should approach the tactics that he knows will work out for the team because if he tries to please the people and anything goes wrong, he will be the one to blame, ” said Obuh who led the team to the final of the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup on home soil.

    The team posted a 10-1 win over Niger in their .while they also recorded a 7-0 win over Guinea in their last match to set up today’s encounter with their fellow West Africans.

  • OBUH PLANS SOUTH AFRICA HUMILIATION

    OBUH PLANS SOUTH AFRICA HUMILIATION

    NIGERIA’S U-20 coach John Obuh has revealed desire in seeing his team get a big score win over South Africa in the final round of qualifying match for the 2013 African Youth Championship.

    The Flying Eagles played a 1-1 draw against the Amajita’s in their first meeting and are marginally at advantage to book a ticket to the championship which serves as qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup when the sides meet in Ilorin on October 7 but Obuh is eager to see his team humiliate their opponents.

    “I will like to see the team go all out and not just get a win but a convincing win over the South Africans. We need to prove that we are a top side in this category of African football,” Obuh, who seems to be sure that his team will scale the hurdles of the South Africans, said.

    Obuh’s team lost to the South Africans in an invitational tourney early this year and there were calls for him to be sacked as Nigeria finished last in the classification of the four-nation tournament which also had Brazil and Ghana.

    Nigeria are the defending champions of the AYC following a 3-2 triumph over Cameroun in the final in 2011.