Last summer,
the Golden Eaglets swept aside all before them to win the WAFU B U17
Championship in Cape Coast, Ghana which made them eligible for a spot at the
continental finals.
In February,
the Eaglets had an extended training camp in Abuja, where the technical crew
seized the opportunity to evaluate more players, and then went on break. Since
resuming camp in Abuja a fortnight ago, following the country’s general
elections, the team has played nine friendly matches, winning eight and drawing
one.
The
five-time world champions have also scored 50 goals and conceded 11 goals. The
latest friendly games were against Galadima FC on Easter Sunday, whom they
defeated 3-1, and against V.P. Sports which they pounded 10-2 on Tuesday.
Ugbade, who
captained Nigeria’s U16 team to FIFA World Cup victory in China in 1985, and
was a key player for the U20 team that finished as runners-up at the FIFA U20
World Cup in Saudi Arabia four years later, insists that the technical crew is
not resting on its oars as they get set to pick the team that will go on the
final training camp and onwards to Algeria.
“We continue
to work hard as we look forward to the championship in Algeria. Our objective
has not changed: we go hard for the World Cup ticket and then we aim for the
trophy. First target is a ticket to the World Cup finals, and then we take
things from there.
“I have
confidence in the squad we have been able to build, even as we are still
utilizing every minute, every hour to tinker with what we have and see how it
can get better. We have a tough act to follow in that Nigeria has won the World
Cup five times in this category, and nothing we do will be seen as special.
However, we know that if we can win the Africa Cup, it will be a stepping stone
to joining the great squads that have won the World Cup for Nigeria,” said
Ugbade who was also part of the Super Eagles’ squad that qualified Nigeria for
the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 1993, and won the Africa Cup of
Nations in Tunisia in 1994.
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