Nigeria Content Online

The
national U-20 football team, the Flying Eagles will today square up
against their counterparts from Libya in the first of two warm-up
matches between both sides ahead of the Africa Youth Championship
coming up month in Libya.

The Flying Eagles
have been camped for over six weeks in Abuja where they have already
played a number of friendly matches with local club sides, as well as
the home-based Super Eagles.

For the team coach,
John Obuh, the match against Libya will help him know how ready his
lads are for the African challenge which lies ahead of them when the
youth championship begins on March 18.

Quality opposition

The Flying Eagles
team which departed the country on Sunday morning with 25 players and
officials promised to make the best of the friendly.

“We need to play
quality friendly matches to shore up our confidence. Libya is a good
side and we hope they will give us the quality position we are craving
for,” said Obuh, who led the national U-17 team to a second-place
finish at the 2009 cadets World Championship hosted by Nigeria.

The Flying Eagles
will likely face a good opposition in the form of the Libyans who only
recently won the North African Football Union Cup, after beating
Algeria 1-0 in the finals.

After today’s game,
both sides will meet again on Wednesday; the Flying Eagles will fly out
for a training tour camp in Antalya, Turkey afterwards.

The contingent of
25 players and nine officials will arrive in Turkey on February 17,
where they will be joined by four overseas-based players.

The team will spend
25 days and play a number of friendly matches in Antalya, before flying
to Tripoli on March 14 for the continental showpiece.

Nigeria are drawn
in a tough group against reigning world and African champions Ghana,
Cameroon and Gambia in Group B of the championship, which ends on April
1.

The Flying Eagles
opening match of the tournament will be against the Ghanaians, before
games against Cameroon in Benghazi and Gambia in Tripoli.

The top four teams at the championships will get a slot for the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be staged by Colombia later this year.