John Obuh, the Coach of the National U-20 soccer team, said on Monday that a foreign training tour would motivate and help the team to prepare seriously for the African Youth Championship (AYC). The competition has been scheduled for between March 16 to March 30 in Algeria.
Obuh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, that the team was as at now prepared for the competition, but that the foreign training tour would assist them to prepare better.
He noted that although the team had not performed well in some of their friendly matches, the training tour would afford them the opportunity to be well-prepared.
“We should be prepared, but not at 100 per cent now as we are still playing friendly games. Going for camping abroad will enable us to further sharpen our skills for the competition,” he said.
According to him, the two friendly matches against Algeria and Egypt on Feb. 20 and Feb. 22 will enable him to know how prepared the team will be for the tournament.
He assured that the success of the Super Eagles in winning the Africa Cup of Nations would not put pressure on the team, but would rather encourage the team to follow their footsteps and defend the trophy.
The national team won the competition by defeating Cameroon 3-2 at the finals in 2011. The team would have their final phase-camping in Tunisia, where the final 21 players would be selected, ahead of the tournament.
