The Flying Eagles won the two-year-old NFF administration of president Ibrahim Gusau their first international trophy when they retained the WAFU B U20 Cup at the expense of arch-rivals Ghana in Lome, Togo.
Flying Eagles champions again
The team of coach Aliyu Zubairu played their best match against the team widely believed to be the best at the seven-team tournament.
SCORENigeria investigations showed that like has been the case for some time now with national teams, the Flying Eagles suffered from poor preparations, they did not get even the most basic motivation from the NFF and the inexperienced technical crew led by coach Aliyu Zubairu did not enjoy support from the technical department.
A source told SCORENigeria: “The head coach (Aliyu Zubairu) and his assistants are inexperienced at this level and they only had about three weeks to prepare for this competition.
“That included screening the players and then getting them to play according to their philosophy.
“Even at that there was no official from the technical department to accompany them, as has been the case previously.
“They also did not play any grade A friendlies and this clearly showed in their opening match against Burkina Faso, which they lost after playing badly.”
Troubled by the non-payment of their camp allowances, well-meaning Nigerians rallied round and donated cash totally over 50 Million Naira to support the U20s.
The Flying Eagles will now feature in the U20 AFCON in South Africa in January.
It is now left to be seen whether they will be better prepared for the continental tournament that will determine the four teams who will represent Africa at the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile.
It would also be recalled that the team are owed qualifying bonuses and allowances dating back to the 2022 WAFU B championship in Niamey, Niger Republic.
These monies were approved by President Bola Tinubu and have since been paid to the NFF, who are yet to pay the beneficiaries.
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