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Nigeria’s U-20 male football team, the Flying Eagles, has
arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Antalya, Turkey, in continuation
of the team’s preparation for this year’s African Youth Championship.

The team will play Egypt’s U-20 team today while also keeping a
date with Saudi Arabia’s U-20 side on Sunday, March 13, before returning to
Nigeria on March 14. Sam Ameobi, the younger brother of Shola Ameobi, is
expected to feature in today’s game as Coach John Obuh said he wants to give
the 19 year old a chance to prove his worth.

The Flying Eagles have been in Turkey for over three weeks
preparing for the tournament previously billed to start in Libya on March 18
but the current unrest in the North African country has forced the
Confederation of African Football to postpone the tournament indefinitely. The
team, though undefeated in most of their tune matches, have also not been too
successful outside the 3-0 whiplash of FC Aktov, a Premier League club from
Kazakhstan last week Thursday.

Gunning for glory

The Flying Eagles are gunning for an unprecedented sixth title
at this year’s championship but have been handed a tough draw which sees them
pitched alongside Africa and World Champions, Ghana, and also the duo of
Cameroun and Gambia. The football federation is yet to pick a new host for the
tournament, but there are speculations that last FIFA World Cup host, South
Africa, looks favoured to host the championships, which also doubles as the
qualifiers for Youth World Cup to be staged in Colombia later this year.

Africa has been given four slots, meaning that only the semi finalist at
this year’s event will get a chance to represent the continent at the World
Championships. Meanwhile, as the Flying Eagles get ready to return back to the
country this weekend, the Nigeria Football Federation is already seeking
assistance from state governors that would help foot the bills for the camping
of the team as they await a new date for the championship. Sources close to the
NFF revealed that both the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and his
Taraba State counterpart, Danbaba Suntai, have both been approached for this
purpose.