Head Coach of Nigeria’s U-20 men’s national team, the Flying Eagles, Aliyu Zubair, has expressed confidence in his team’s readiness for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which kicks off on Saturday in Chile.
The Flying Eagles wrapped up their 12-day pre-World Cup training programme in Chile with a 3-1 victory over Australia in a closed-door friendly on Wednesday, following an earlier 1-1 draw against hosts Chile.
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Speaking to the team’s media unit, Coach Zubair said he was satisfied with the progress made, especially in addressing weaknesses identified during the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Egypt earlier this year. He noted that the team’s attacking play had significantly improved.
“In the two matches we played here, the results were not even the most important thing. What mattered was identifying our deficiencies and working on them.”
“Against Chile, we noticed areas that needed improvement, and by the time we faced Australia, the corrections we made really worked. We saw clear improvement,” he said.
The Flying Eagles scored four goals in their two friendlies, with different players contributing.
The coach described this as a big step forward compared to their struggles in front of goal during AFCON.
“At AFCON, our attack was not biting at all. But from these two matches, you can see the difference—our attack is sharper, and we are exploiting spaces better in the final third.
It’s a big improvement, and with the little time left before the World Cup, we will continue to work on it,” he added.
Coach Zubair also stressed that the friendlies had boosted the team’s confidence ahead of their opening World Cup match against Norway.
Nigeria are drawn in Group F alongside Norway, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia.
The Flying Eagles open their campaign against Norway on Monday, September 29, before facing Saudi Arabia on October 2 and Colombia on October 5.
The coach pledged that his side would aim to surpass Nigeria’s past near misses at the tournament, particularly the silver medal finishes in Saudi Arabia 1989 and the Netherlands 2005
