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| Nduka Ugbade |
Assistant coach of the National U-20 football side, Nduka Ugbade has declared that the team is ready to handle the weight of expectations from Nigerians ahead of the 2015 AYC which began in Senegal on Sunday
The Flying Eagles, as the U20 are called beat the host 3-1 in the opening game and Ugbade says the Flying Eagles are capable of dealing with the pressure associated with putting up a decent performance at the CAF U-20 showpiece.
They won the expanded Pre-season Super 4 tournament in Abuja last month after securing four wins against NPFL sides, Kano Pillars, Enyimba, Warri Wolves and Dolphins and a draw against the national U-23 side.
Ugbade says the team is aware of the task ahead and that they are primed to make the country proud in Senegal.
His declarations are coming after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) tasked the team to win the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal.
“That is the issue we (Flying Eagles) are facing at the moment; a lot of anxiety,” the former Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM) coach said.
“The NFF are saying it emphatically that everybody is expecting some great performance from us because a lot of Nigerians have gotten the opportunity to see us during the Super 6 competition and they said that we are very good,” Ugabde said.
As part of preparations for the AYC, the Flying Eagles also played a two-legged friendly against their Ghanaian counterparts, the Black Satellites.
“We are ready to showcase what we have and you must understand that the boys are young. They have gotten their transition from U-17 to U-20. We are ready,” Ugbade declared.
Nigeria have won the AYC a record 6 times in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2005 and 2011.