Charles Ogundiya 
…says team should target World Cup ticket first
Nigeria set for crucial final Group A game
A former Golden Eaglets head coach, Manu Garba, has urged the national U-20 team to go all out for a win against the Mozambique U-20 team in the final group stage of the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations currently going on in Egypt.
The coach Ladan Bosso-led team will secure a place in the quarterfinal stage of the competition with a win or a draw in the game while a defeat might put an end to the team’s ambition of qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup later in the year.
Nigeria started the AFCON with a 1-0 defeat against Senegal before bouncing back with a 1-0 win over host, Egypt, and will be hoping to finish second in the group with a good result against Mozambique.
Speaking with our correspondent, Garba said the Flying Eagles must not underrate their opponent. “We should be wary of Mozambique because they are a wounded lion and they will want to come out against us because they still have the chance of qualifying for the next round,” he said.
“They will not want to go home empty-handed, we should not underrate them, we should go all out against them, to have qualified, they are not pushovers, so we should play them like it is another cup final.
“After we lost the first match, I said people should calm down that the team will surely come good, because we still have two matches and now the team have kick-started their campaign with a hard fought win against the host Egypt, the next thing is to go all out against Mozambique and qualify for the quarterfinal.”
Speaking further, he said one thing going for the team is the level of preparation as the team was in camp for a long time. According to him, Nigerians should continue to support the team and also pray for them as he is of the opinion that they will continue to get better. Garba, meanwhile, also said the ultimate is the ticket to qualify for the World Cup and to achieve that, the Flying Eagles must get to the semifinal first.
He added: “By the time they get to the quarters, they must do everything to get to the semis so as to qualify for the World Cup because the ultimate for now is the ticket and then they can now start to fight for the trophy. “For the team to have beaten the host team despite the support from their fans, everyone will be wary of them, let’s forget about the match we lost against Senegal, this team has what it takes to go far, we should not be castigating them at this moment because the team really prepared very well for the competition.
“My only advice to the coach is that he should start looking at the potential opponent in the other group and know their strengths and weaknesses, “Bosso is an experienced coach, he has been within the age-grade team circle for a while, and this should help him. Most important thing is to remain focused and get a win against Mozambique.”
Meanwhile, with Senegal already assured of the top position in the Group, Nigeria will tackle Mozambique for a slot in the semifinal where they will be meeting the second-placed team in Group B if they finished second in the group ahead of host Egypt who will be playing against Senegal in a make or break game.
