Obuh cautions against panic
Shehu Abdullahi versus South Africa in Cape Town
Flying Eagles crash out
Flying Eagles coach John Obuh has cautioned against any panicky
measures after his team finished winless at a Cape Town tournament.
Nigeria U20s lost 3-2 to arch-rivals Ghana and 1-0 to both Argentina and hosts South Africa to crash out of the biennial Cape Town International Challenge.
“We are all very disappointed that we did not do well at the tournament, but it is also an eye-opening experience for us as we know we now have a lot of work ahead of us as we rebuilt the team for the challenges ahead,” said Obuh.
“We had less than three weeks to really coach these players and this competition has clearly shown that we all need to work a lot harder, rather than panic to salvage the situation.”
He added: “There were a lot of improvements by the team as we progressed and so we should still hope we will rise to the occasion when it matters most.
“I have not lost belief in what I can do despite the difficulties.”
The African champions begin their quest to feature at next year’s African Youth Championship on July 28 with a tricky road trip to Tanzania, who eliminated Sudan in the previous round of the qualifying series.
“We will turn around this team in the six weeks we have before that game,” promised Obuh.
“We have seen the areas where we are really lacking and we will most certainly work on those areas immediately.
“We also need to play a lot more friendlies against top Nigeria Premier League clubs so as to really test the character of the players we’re now working with.”
Nigeria and South Africa could clash again in September if both teams keep to past form and go past their opponents in the second round of the AYC qualifiers, where the Amajitas are drawn against Congo Brazzaville in July.
Nigeria U20s lost 3-2 to arch-rivals Ghana and 1-0 to both Argentina and hosts South Africa to crash out of the biennial Cape Town International Challenge.
“We are all very disappointed that we did not do well at the tournament, but it is also an eye-opening experience for us as we know we now have a lot of work ahead of us as we rebuilt the team for the challenges ahead,” said Obuh.
“We had less than three weeks to really coach these players and this competition has clearly shown that we all need to work a lot harder, rather than panic to salvage the situation.”
He added: “There were a lot of improvements by the team as we progressed and so we should still hope we will rise to the occasion when it matters most.
“I have not lost belief in what I can do despite the difficulties.”
The African champions begin their quest to feature at next year’s African Youth Championship on July 28 with a tricky road trip to Tanzania, who eliminated Sudan in the previous round of the qualifying series.
“We will turn around this team in the six weeks we have before that game,” promised Obuh.
“We have seen the areas where we are really lacking and we will most certainly work on those areas immediately.
“We also need to play a lot more friendlies against top Nigeria Premier League clubs so as to really test the character of the players we’re now working with.”
Nigeria and South Africa could clash again in September if both teams keep to past form and go past their opponents in the second round of the AYC qualifiers, where the Amajitas are drawn against Congo Brazzaville in July.
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