As reactions continue trailing the youth national team, Flying Eagles’ 1-1 draw with hosts Ghana on Thursday at the WAFU-B U20 Championship, ex-international midfielder, Friday Ekpo has charged the squad’s coach, Aliyu Zubairu to give the game a post-mortem before they face Benin Republic on Sunday.
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Sports247 reports that Zubairu’s side had to come from a goal down to eke out a draw at Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, Ghana and a cross-section of Nigerian football analysts posited that many weaknesses were exposed in the team.
However, rather than scold Zubairu and his players, Ekpo opted to give them hope ahead of the team’s next group game on Sunday, and stressed that their major target is to use the competition as build-up to this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile.
“The WAFU competition is like a preparation period that will help them to know what they are doing ahead of the U20 World Cup. Before getting to this stage, they played some games, and they will now play more at this tournament.
“This will help the players and the coach to rebuild from the mistakes they were committing and then try to correct them,” Ekpo reasoned.
The petit former schemer, who thrilled during his days with the Super Eagles and was part of the Nigerian bronze-medal-winning squad to Senegal ’92 Africa Cup of Nations, went on to give Zubairu useful tips on how to get his players into tip-top shape after each fixture.
He added, “Through this competition, the players should be able to work hard and listen to the coach’s instructions. They would be able to learn better what he wants them to play.
“The coach should not be afraid of telling them what they do wrong and in correcting them. He needs to pamper them and talk to them the way they should understand.”
Ekpo concluded by pointing out that heated words from the coach cannot make a difference while trying to correct their flaws, advising instead that the gaffer should teach them with a gentle voice.
“Correction is not done by blasting players, but by addressing them calmly anytime they make mistakes. After each game, they should have a post-mortem.
“They should talk to one another, jointly correct their mistakes together, then go into training to perfect things for the next game.
“They should know that this is a period to work towards the World Cup,” said Ekpo, who dazzled for Abiola Babes FC of Abeokuta and Mogas ’90 of Gabon at the height of his career.
