Flying Eagles Begins AYC Quest

Flying Eagles will begin the quest for a seventh African Youth Championship title on Sunday when they take on host country Senegal in what is expected to be a bruising physical contest.


The game will get underway at the 45,000-capacity Stade Leopold Sedar Senghor by 4.30pm local time, which is 5.30pm Nigerian time.

The second Group A match between Cote d’Ivoire and Congo will follow at the same venue.

“Senegal have bigger players than us and they are a bit physical from what I saw in one of their recent warm-up matches, so I expect a bruising encounter especially now with the adrenalin pumping and the home team charging to win their first game,” predicted Flying Eagles assistant coach Nduka Ugbade.

The Nigeria U20s rounded up their build-up for Sunday’s showdown with an early morning workout at the Stade Iba Mar Diop Saturday with all 21 players fit and available for selection.

The squad boast of eight players from the country’s team who won the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates thus making them one of the youngest at this tournament.

“We know what is expected of us and we have promised to do Nigeria proud,” said skipper Musa Muhammed, a swash-bucking right fullback who led the Golden Eaglets to a record fourth World Cup two years ago.

The Flying Eagles preparations have included taking part in an invitational tournament in Abuja involving four of Nigeria’s top clubs and the country’s U23 team.

They won the six-team competition in style after drawing only their last game against the country’s U23 team.

They also played two test games against their Ghanaian counterparts, drawing the first 2-2 in Accra before they won the second 2-0 in Tema.


Senegal, on the hand, rounded up their build-up with two confidence-boosting wins over Group B teams Zambia and South Africa.

“We are satisfied with the two matches we played against South Africa (1-0 win) and Zambia (1-0 win) because these teams are no pushovers,” said team manager Mayacine Mar.

“Against South Africa, we were strong and technical. We created a lot of chances but only scored a goal. Zambia were a lot more physical,” added assistant coach Malick Daff.

The Junior Lions are handled by former Teranga Lions coach Joseph Koto and captained by Roger Gomis, a highly-rated defensive midfielder who features for Louhans-Cuiseaux in the lower league in France.

It is their first appearance in the AYC since they last featured at the 1995 edition hosted by Nigeria.