Ladan Bosso
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles coach Ladan Bosso says he is confident of his team’s abilities despite going down to Senegal in their opening match of the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo on Sunday night.
The seven-time champions had to play the closing stages with a man down following Ahmed Abdullahi’s sending off for a dangerous challenge.
Despite the setback, Bosso insists they will recover to excel in the tournament being played in Egypt.
“We take advantage of tournaments like this in order to develop our level and work to fix our mistakes.
“In the end, I trust the team and their ability to qualify for the next round, and that we will achieve our biggest goal, which is to reach the World Cup,’ said Bosso.
The Flying Eagles will battle against the hosts who were held to a goalless draw by Mozambique and Bosso is wary of the danger they could pose.
“The next match is very difficult, especially since it will be against Egypt, the host country. Egypt’s draw against Mozambique will make it more difficult because their desire to win will multiply.”
Nigeria must defeat Egypt in their next match in order to stand a chance of making it out of their group. On Wednesday, the host and Flying Eagles will face off.
A World Cup qualification process is also part of the contest. World Cup tickets will only be awarded to the four semifinalists.