Nigeria’s youngest national team, the Future Eagles, are set to begin their busy campaign at the maiden FIFA U15 World Cup with an opening fixture against South Sudan on Saturday, Sports247 reports.
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Coach Patrick Bassey’s side will also play two matches apiece on Sunday and Monday, as they seek a very bright start to their outing at the innovative competition, which will roll alongside a youth festival in Baku, Azerbaijan.
A preview by the communications department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) revealed, “Future Eagles and their officials arrived in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, on Thursday afternoon for the inaugural edition of the FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival, taking place 22nd – 31st October.
“The 14 players and their six officials, including Head Coach Patrick Bassey and Team Administrator, Nasiru Jibril, flew out of Abuja on Wednesday night to Istanbul aboard a Turkish Airlines flight, before connecting to the Azerbaijan capital.
“Nigeria, in Group A of the competition, will play against South Sudan, Jordan, The Gambia, Cyprus and Pakistan, with their first match coming up on Saturday against South Sudan. They will then play Jordan and The Gambia on Sunday.
“(They will afterwards take) on Cyprus and Pakistan on Monday (at) the inaugural tournament (that) will feature an eight-a-side format, with matches consisting of two 20-minute halves.
“Performances in the group stage will determine which tier each country will progress to in the second stage, which will take centre stage on 28th and 29th October, while the tier finals will be played on Friday, 30th October.”
