Nigeria Content Online

A playing tour of
either Spain or France tops the agenda of Falconets coach, Adat Egan,
in his bid to make an appreciable impact at the Female U-20 World Cup
billed for Germany from July 13- August

Aware of the
pitfalls that hindered his predecessors at major championships in the
past; Egan says he would set out to begin preparations with his team in
earnest.

“We have already
sent our proposals to the NFF and we are expecting a favourable
response from them. Already we have pencilled either Spain or France
for a playing tour for the girls” he said.

According to Egan,
at least thirty players would first be invited to the World Cup camp
billed to open next week with a couple of friendly matches already
targeted.

In the draws
already conducted for the tournament last week in Germany, Nigeria drew
the trio of England, Japan Mexico as group opponents.

Chances from the group

Looking at the
teams in the group, Egan believes the Falconets have a fair chance of
making it out of the group even though he regarded the teams in the
group as all good sides.

“They are all good
teams with different pedigree in female football; England and Japan
have shown their stuffs in different tournament but I remain positive
that we would make it out of the group to the next stage” he said.

After crashing out
as the bottom placed team in the maiden edition of the competition in
Canada way back 2002, Nigeria has finished the last three editions
reaching the quarter finals.

History making

For Egan, his mind is set on advancing beyond the quarter finals as he remains confident of making history in Germany.

“As a coach you
have to set high targets for yourself and for your team, I believe when
you do this, it motivates you to do more. In Germany I have my mind on
playing in the finals” he said.

Similarly, the
coach of the last set of Falconets to the World Cup in Chile, Dan
Evumena feels the team has a good chance of doing well as he pointed
out that the core of the present team were with him to the last World
Cup played in 2008.

“I went with a
relatively young team to Chile and I feel the experience most of them
had in Chile would have a good bearing on the team now,” he said.

Falconets will start their campaign at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women
World Cup on July 14 in Augsburg with an exciting fixture against
England