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Two
years ago in Rwanda, Nigeria’s Flying Eagles finished a disappointing
third at the African Youth Championship after coming from a goal behind
to beat South Africa 2-1 in the bronze-medal match.

Disappointing
because, other than being the most successful team in the history of
the tournament, having won it a record five times, the Nigerian team to
the 2009 AYC, consisted of the core of the Golden Eaglets team, that
two years earlier, had emerged winners of the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World
Cup in South Korea under the tutelage of the late Yemi Tella.

But under Ladan
Bosso, the Flying Eagles team failed to shine under the Rwandan sun and
crashed out in the semi-final stage to Cameroun following a 2-0 loss.

The team,
nevertheless, still qualified for that year’s FIFA World Cup in Egypt
but Bosso was to pay the price for the Flying Eagles’ failure to lift
the AYC trophy as he was fired by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
and replaced with current Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia who went on
to lead the team to Egypt, where they failed to go beyond the round of
16.

Such is the
pressure that goes with handling the Nigerian under 20 side; a side
that has, in addition to winning the AYC title on five occasions,
finished second on two occasions at the World Cup – in 1989 and 2005 –
as well as a third-place finish in 1985.

New era

Current Flying
Eagles coach, John Obuh, will do well to return home with the trophy
even though his immediate priority is claiming one of the four slots to
the World Cup in Colombia; slots that are reserved for the four
semi-finalists at the AYC.

“We want to qualify
for the World Cup. That is our target, but we also want to win it. But
that is also the target of all the other teams that will be coming for
the tournament,” Obuh told NEXT, prior to his team’s departure for
South Africa.

He added: “It will
be a great achievement to win this tournament. We have prepared well
and we have a good team. All we need now is the support and prayers of
Nigerians, as well as some luck because that also plays a key role in
any tournament.”

Obuh definitely
knows the importance of having good fortune at championships as he was
in charge of the Nigerian team at the 2009 FIFA Under 17 World Cup
hosted by Nigeria, where his team rallied from being three goals down,
to play out a thrilling draw with Germany in the tournament’s opening
game, before making it all the way to the final where they slipped to a
1-0 defeat to Switzerland.

And the one-time
Super Eagles invitee hopes to go all the way this time around and not
suffer the pain of defeat at such a crucial stage of a tournament.

“It was a huge
disappointment losing to Switzerland, especially after coming so
close,” he continued. “But all that is in the past and I don’t think we
will face a similar situation this time around.

“A lot of the boys
from two years ago are in this team and are more matured, so if we get
to the final this time around, I am sure we will get a better result. I
believe we will have better fortune this time around,” added Obuh, who
won’t be with a few of his stars from the 2009 Golden Eaglets team.

Old faces

This includes Sani
Emmanuel, who finished the 2009 Under 17 World Cup as one of the
tourney’s standout players. There’s also central defender, Kenneth
Omeruo, as well as his captain from two years ago, Fortune Chukwudi,
who was involved in an age controversy.

“We all know what
happened to Fortune, so there’s no need to elaborate on that. As for
Sani, he would have been in the team but he is not presently in the
country,” disclosed Obuh. “He is in Italy with Lazio but he is still a
part of my plans once he sorts out everything with the club.”

He added: “Kenneth
Omeruo was also with us before going to Belgium in search of a club but
we can’t wait for him as we had to move on.

“We can’t be held to ransom by any player and I believe the players we have in this team will do us proud in South Africa.”

Obuh can however
count on the availability of the likes of Stanley Okoro and Ramon
Azeez, who were also stars of his U-17 side, and who now play their
football in Spain.

But regardless of
how many overseas based players are in the side, the tournament will be
holding at venues thousands of feet above sea level, which means
thinner air and lower oxygen levels for the players.

One way of adapting
to the situation is by training at high altitude areas prior to the
commencement of the championship, as has been the case with a number of
teams coming for the AYC, most notably Ghana who were in Kenya up until
Thursday when they left for South Africa.

The Ghanaians are
the tournament’s defending champions and will open their defence with a
game against the Flying Eagles on Monday. And Obuh hopes all goes well
in that game.

“We couldn’t do
that (high altitude training) but we will try to ensure that this does
not affect us adversely, especially in our first match against Ghana,”
explained Obuh.

“By the time we get to play our second game against Cameroun, the players would have adapted to the situation.”