Doom looms for Obuh’s Flying Eagles – Ladipo

By JOE APU
The third place finish of the Flying Eagles and a qualification ticket for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup billed for Turkey in June is unsatisfactory for Nigerians according to President General, Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, who insists that doom awaits the team at the championship if it fails to improve on its style of play.
Assessing the performance of the Flying Eagles team at the last African Youth Championship (AYC), Dr. Ladipo said the Flying Eagles who went to Algeria as African champions and did not get to the final, was not a good experience but he and his crew, (the Nigeria Football Supporters Club) would do their best to keep encouraging the team. He called on Coach John Obuh to take a second look at his team. “The Flying Eagles may have qualified for the FIFA Under-20 World Championship, but I must say that we were not impressed and we’ve advised them on the areas of improvement.
“Personally, I think that the strike force of the team is yet to get its acts together. We need to work harder if we want to make an impression at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. I found out that our players were unable to take the attack beyond our half.” Coach Obuh, he said needs to look at the performance of his players at the African Youth Championship and work out ways of improving the performance of the team. “If our players carry the same attitude and style of play that we saw in Algeria, then, we’ll be in big problem. In fact, it’ll be doom starring us in the face.
Coach Obuh and his crew need to rejuvenate the team and on our part as supporters, we sing to encourage them on the pitch of play,” he stressed. The Flying Eagles of Nigeria are drawn into Group B along with Cuba, Korea Republic and Portugal. Newly crowned African U-20 Champions, Egypt join Chile, England and Iraq in Group E of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 as the champions of CAF. The Young Pharaohs beat Black Satellites of Ghana 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out.
The two sides had settled for a 1–1 draw over 90 minutes and into extra time. Ghana, who finished second in the tournament, join France, USA and Spain in Group A later this year, while the Eaglets of Mali, who finished fourth in Algeria will compete against Mexico, Greece and Paraguay in Group D play. The FIFA Under-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 will take place between 21 June and 13 July in the seven host cities of Antalya, Bursa, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Kayseri, Rize and Trabzon.
The 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup will be the 19th edition of the Under-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977, as the FIFA World Youth Championship. This tournament marks the first time in its history, in which neither Brazil nor Argentina (the most successful teams in the competition) have qualified, with it also being only the second time that Brazil does not take part (the first being at the 1979 edition).