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Tag: Flying Eagles

  • Egypt 2023: Gusau charges Flying Eagles to go for FIFA World Cup ticket

    Egypt 2023: Gusau charges Flying Eagles to go for FIFA World Cup ticket

    President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau has assured the Flying Eagles of all necessary support and attention from the football-ruling body as the team continues its build-up to the Africa U20 Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.

    The NFF President gave the assurance on Sunday evening while visiting the Flying Eagles at their training tour base, Hotel Novotel in Mohammedia, Morocco shortly after the team’s 2-1 victory over their Congolese counterparts in a friendly at the Complexe Sportif Sidi Mohammed.

    “Let me use this opportunity to congratulate you all for emerging victorious against the Congolese team. It was a well-deserved victory because you played well. I believe there are a lot of good players here that will make the generality of Nigerians proud.

    “The NFF under my leadership is working assiduously to ensure that you get all the support necessary for you to excel and that’s why I directed the secretariat to settle all your camping allowances which was done before your departure. I assure you that we are now working on how to motivate you in an extra way when you get to Cairo. All you have to do is go out there and make Nigerians proud.

    “Getting to the semi-finals is paramount because that guarantees us a place in the FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia; so I urge you to seal that ticket and then get to the final and win the trophy.”

    Responding on behalf of the team, Captain Daniel Bameyi thanked the President for the visit while reassuring him the players are battle-ready for the task ahead, and will do the needful by ensuring the team not only wins a World Cup ticket but goes all out for the trophy.

    The Flying Eagles are expected to play U20 boys of Central African Republic on Wednesday before the team’s departure to Cairo on Thursday.

    Against the Congolese, Nigeria dominated for large swathes of the first period but fell behind when Solomon Oniangue scored for the boys from Brazzaville in the 21st minute. Haliru Sarki, Francis Ayuba and Mohammed Ibrahim all missed good opportunities to draw the Flying Eagles level.

    However, Emmanuel Uchegbu and Adams Olamilekan turned the game around for Nigeria with goals in the 66th and 74th minute to maintain the unbeaten run of this set of Flying Eagles in all matches and competitions.

  • Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles land in Morocco to continue preparations

    Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles land in Morocco to continue preparations

    Nigeria’s  Flying Eagles left the country yesterday for Morocco to continue their preparation for AFCON under 20 tourneys meant for Egypt later in the month.

    The Flying Eagles of Nigeria has won the tourney seven times in their history and will be gunning for their eight title.

    Ladan Bosso’s side will spend a few days in Morocco for the final stage of their preparations for the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.

    The 2023 U-20 AFCON will start in Egypt next weekend and run till March 11 across three cities: Cairo, Ismailia and Alexandria.

    The Flying Eagles are the most successful side in the history of the competition with seven titles.

    Much is expected from the West Africans after their exploits at the WAFU B U-20 Championship last May where they emerged winners after strolling past neighbours, Benin Republic 3-0 in the final.

    Talented forward, Adams Olamilekan is confident they will return home with the trophy.

    “We have a strong team and have what it takes to beat the other teams in Egypt,”

    “We will take it game by game and I believe the quality in our team will see us through,” he said.

    Olamilekan’s view was corroborated by goalkeeper, Nathaniel Nwosu.

    “We are going to Egypt to conquer Africa again,” he stated.

  • Fireworks expected as Flying Eagles tackle Junior Chipolopolo in Abuja

    Fireworks expected as Flying Eagles tackle Junior Chipolopolo in Abuja

     

     

    Egypt-bound Nigeria and Zambia U20 teams clash in a prestige encounter at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Friday evening, in what promises to be a fierce encounter with both gearing up for the Africa U20 Cup of Nations starting in the North African nation in a fortnight.

     

    A 35-man delegation of the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations champions landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Thursday afternoon, aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa. The delegation included 23 players and 12 officials.

     

    They will confront the Flying Eagles, seven-time champions of Africa, at the main bowl of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium from 4pm on Friday.

     

    Champions of the WAFU B U20 Championship held in Niger Republic in May 2022, the Flying Eagles have been drawn to play hosts Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in Group A of the Africa U20 Cup of Nations taking place 18th February – 12th March this year.

     

    Zambia won the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations which they hosted, and then reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U20 World Cup in Korea Republic the same year, before losing to Italy after extra time in Suwon.

     

    In Egypt, Zambia will be up against Tunisia, Benin Republic and The Gambia in Group C, while Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo battle things out in Group B.

     

    NFF lectures Clubs on new CAF Club Licensing System and Stadium Regulations

     

    The Nigeria Football Federation on Tuesday organized a seminar for General Managers and Club Licensing Managers of teams in the Nigeria Premier Football League and the Nigeria Women Football League, with a view to briefing them adequately on the Confederation of African Football’s new regulatory framework for the Club Licensing System and Stadium Regulations.

     

    The regulations include a fresh edition of the CAF Men’s Club Licensing Regulations, first-ever edition of the CAF Women’s Club Licensing Regulations, a fresh CAF Club Licensing Quality Standard, a dedicated CAF Club Licensing Catalogue of Sanctions and a fresh CAF Stadium Regulations.

     

    Inside the Conference Room of the NFF/FIFA Goal Project facility of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, the Club Licensing Unit of the NFF took participants through the frameworks, regulations and requirements that strengthen the Club Licensing System for men and women’s football for continental and domestic competitions, define the minimum standards that Member Associations or affiliated Leagues (as Licensors) must comply with in order to operate the Club Licensing System, establish a categorization of stadium technical requirements per type of CAF Competition and set out sanctions to be applied for lack of proper implementation by Member Associations.

     

    The changes include: 1) CAF has moved away from the A, B and C types of criteria. Under the CAF Men’s Club Licensing Regulations (edition 2022), two types of criteria are introduced: continental and domestic criteria. ‘Continental’ applies to Clubs participating in CAF Interclubs competitions and the ‘Domestic’ must be defined by each MA for their men’s top tier competition, respecting the minimum criteria and requirements established in the CAF regulations.

     

    2) Licensors must now include as a criterion, at a minimum in their top tier men’s national club competition, articles 26, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 41, 42, 47, 48, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 and 63 from the CAF Men’s Club Licensing regulations into their National Men’s Club Licensing Regulations, while adjusting the requirements in each criterion to the domestic competition regulations.

     

    3) Improvements have been made to areas such as child protection and welfare, medical care of players, women’s football teams, club administrative positions and qualifications, and tighter deadlines for overdue payables.

     

    4) There is now a requirement for women’s football teams, which means that clubs intending to participate in the CAF Interclubs competitions must have a minimum one women’s first team participating in a competition sanctioned by the Member Association.

     

    5) The purpose of the CAF Stadium Regulations is to define the technical requirements to be met by stadiums for use in football competitions under the auspices of CAF, with a view to providing the best conditions for football practice, safety, functionality and comfort for players, fans and officials. The regulations govern the minimum structural criteria to be fulfilled by a stadium for it to be classified (in ascending order) as CAF category 1, 2, 3 or 4 based on the different types, grades and categories of matches and championships.

  • Flying Eagles, Young Chipolopolo now to play on Saturday

    Flying Eagles, Young Chipolopolo now to play on Saturday

    The international friendly match between Nigeria and Zambia at the U20 boys’ level will now hold at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday, 4th February.

    Initially, both countries’ football-governing bodies had agreed on a two-match tour for 27th and 30th January respectively. However, issues of logistics and the compunction on the Young Chipolopolo to process their entry visas into Egypt for the forthcoming Africa U20 Cup of Nations before leaving Zambia forced a postponement.

    Zambia’s U20 delegation is still in Lusaka and will now only be able to play one match against the Flying Eagles, before proceeding to Dakar for a game against Senegal on Tuesday next week.

    Both Nigeria and Zambia will face a country from the other’s region in Egypt, with Nigeria drawn against Mozambique (alongside host nation Egypt and Senegal) in Group A, while Zambia will face Benin Republic (alongside Tunisia and The Gambia) in Group C. Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo make up Group B.

    Seven-time African champions Nigeria will fly to Morocco on Wednesday next week for their final round of preparations. Coach Isah Ladan Bosso’s wards have been in flaming form in recent weeks, lashing a slew of teams in friendly games.

    Bosso’s wards were worthy champions of the WAFU B U20 Championship in Niamey, Niger Republic in May 2022, winning all their five matches in the competition.

  • U-20 AFCON: Flying Eagles to begin training on grass pitch

    U-20 AFCON: Flying Eagles to begin training on grass pitch

    Ahead of the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations the Flying Eagles of Nigeria is set to begin training at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, practice section on Monday.

    Before now, the team has been practicing on the Astroturf pitch of the FIFA Gold Project facilities since they set up camp in the Federal Capital Territory last year but will now change to the grass pitch of Moshood Abiola Stadium,

    Matches at the 2023 U-20 AFCON will be played on natural grass pitch hence the need to change the team’s training venue.

    It will also allow the Golden Eaglets to have full access to the Goal Project pitch as they resume training tomorrow morning.

    The seven-time African champions will face Zambia in a double header friendly on January 27 and 30.

    The two matches will be played at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.

    The Flying Eagles has been grouped in A al;ongside  hosts Egypt, Mozambique and Senegal in at the competition.

  • Flying Eagles to play Zambia’s U20 team in two friendly matches in Nigeria

    Flying Eagles to play Zambia’s U20 team in two friendly matches in Nigeria

    Seven-time African champions, Flying Eagles of Nigeria will take on their Zambian counterparts in two friendly games in the Nigerian capital city as part of preparations for this year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations.

    The tour has been consummated following a request letter from the Nigeria Football Federation on 13th January, and which met with the ready acceptance of the Football Association of Zambia.

    Through a letter dated 14th January 2023, Adrian Kashala, FAZ’s General Secretary, said the Zambia football-ruling body was agreeable to the proposal. The proposal for the tour includes FAZ flying the Junior Chipolopolo to Nigeria while the NFF will bear the cost of accommodation, feeding and other logistics for the Zambia delegation.

    The two matches will take place on Friday, 27th January and Monday, 30th January 2023 respectively.

    Free-scoring Flying Eagles have scored a total of 10 goals in two friendly games since resuming camp after the yuletide period – the latest being a 5-1 mauling of Galadima FC in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Champions of the WAFU B U20 Championship held in Niger Republic in May 2022, the Flying Eagles have been drawn to play hosts Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in Group A of the Africa U20 Cup of Nations taking place 19th February – 11th March this year.

    Zambia, champions of the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations which they hosted, reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U20 World Cup in Korea Republic the same year, before losing to Italy after extra time in Suwon.

    In Egypt, Zambia will be up against Tunisia, Benin Republic and The Gambia in Group C, while Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo battle things out in Group B.

    All four semi-finalists in Egypt will qualify to represent Africa at the 23rd FIFA U20 World Cup finals slated for Indonesia 20th May -11 June this year.

  • Bosso denies report he rejected bribe money from agent

    Bosso denies report he rejected bribe money from agent

    Flying Eagles’ Head Coach, Isah Ladan Bosso has denied a report in a section of the media that he granted an interview in which he claimed to have rejected the sum of €100,000 offered by a football agent to have the latter’s player in the Nigeria U20 squad.

    The report claimed that Bosso, who tinkered the Nigeria intermediate team to win the WAFU B U20 Championship in Niger Republic last year and will lead them to the Africa U20 Cup of Nations starting in Egypt next month, made a statement to the effect that he had refused the amount offered by a certain overseas-based football agent.

    “Please permit me to clear the air on this news making the rounds about me rejecting an amount of money from a football agent. I never made such a claim to any journalist, talk less of in a formal interview. There was no time I made such a statement to either a journalist or any other person for that matter. If anyone has proof of my making such a statement, the person should come out and tender it in public.

    “At the moment, I am focused on ensuring the Flying Eagles prepare very well and we are able to pick the very best legs to represent Nigeria at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt. We surely can do without such distractions.”

    Bosso also shed more light on the number of players invited to camp for the final phase of preparations ahead of the U20 tournament.

    “I have also read somewhere that we have 65 players in the camp; this is outright falsehood. There’s no way we can have that bogus number in the camp. We resumed with 35  players in the camp and that is the number we have for now. Working with my assistants, we will start to trim the squad once the overseas-based professionals start arriving in camp.”

    The veteran trainer also called on stakeholders to rally round and support the Flying Eagles as the team embarks on the mission to conquer Africa for the eighth time. “I am calling on all critical stakeholders including the media to rally round and support this team. We need no distractions at this point; all we need is the support of everyone in our quest to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals in Indonesia.”

  • Egypt 2023: Bosso calls Nwosu, Daga, Bernard, 32 other players to camp

    Egypt 2023: Bosso calls Nwosu, Daga, Bernard, 32 other players to camp

    Isah Ladan Bosso, Head Coach of Nigeria’s U20 boys, has invited 35 players to resume camping in Abuja on Monday as preparations for this year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations begins in earnest.

    Goalkeeper Nathaniel Nwosu, who is also number one choice for the Olympic Eagles, is at the top of the roster alongside midfielder Daniel Daga and forward Promise Bernard. Training sessions will commence on Monday as Bosso looks to pick his final squad for the tournament that also serves as the qualifying tournament for this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Indonesia.

    There are also goalkeeper Chijioke Anigboso, defenders Benjamin Frederick, Nathaniel Tambe and Hassan Shaibu, midfielders Ibrahim Yahaya and Muhammad Aminu, and forwards Adams Olalekan and Ayuba Francis.

    Seven-time champions Nigeria will do battle with host nation, Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in Group A of the 12-nation tournament taking place in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Ismailia, 19th February – 11th March. All four semi-finalists at the championship will fly Africa’s flag at this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup.

    Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo are in Group B, while The Gambia, Tunisia, Benin Republic and Zambia will slot it out in Group C.

     

    ALL THE INVITED PLAYERS:

    Goalkeepers: Nathaniel Nwosu (Water FC); Chijioke Anigboso (Giant Brillars); Saheed Akanbi (Adoration FC); John Otunbulon (Mavloon FC)

    Defenders: Benjamin Frederick (Nasarawa FC); Adedoyin Odole (36 Lions); Daniel Bamaiyi (YumYum FC); Femi Abubakar (Madiba FC); Nathaniel Tambe (Box2Box FC); Solomon Agbalaka (Broad City); Aminu Yusuf (Lobi Stars); Hassan Shaibu (Smart City); Augustine Njoku (Abia Warriors)

    Midfielders: Daniel Daga (Dakkada FC); Ogbelu Onoche (Nasarawa United); Frederick Godwin (City FC); Jonathan Nicholas (Simoiben FC); Muhammad Aminu (Mailantarki FC); Shatima Umar; Abdulrahman Adam (Mahaniam FC); Caleb Ochedikwu (Mavloon FC); Ibrahim Yahaya (Mailatarki FC); Bilyaminu Musa (Mailafia FC); Musa Usman (Mailatarki (FC)

    Forwards: Jude Sunday (Realsaphier FC); Ifesinachi Obiakwu (36 Lions); Adams Olalekan (Remo Stars); Emma Ochegbu (Plateau United); Haliru Sarki (Maikunkele FC); Christogonus Ibe (Chukwuebuka FC); Faruk Salami (Ikorodu City); Segun Otusanoya; Ayuba Francis (Nasarawa United); Promise Bernard (FAME FC); Shatima Abani (Plateau United)

  • Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles Coach, Bosso set to release final list

    Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles Coach, Bosso set to release final list

    Flying Eagles head coach, Ladan Bosso will submit his final squad list for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations on January 20.

    The U-20 AFCON will run from February 19 to March 11 in the North African country of Egypt.

    Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have been drawn in Group A alongside host Egypt, Mozambique and Senegal.

    They are expected to resume camping on Sunday, January 7 after going on Xmas and New Year break.

    35 players including overseas-based professionals are expected to report to the team’s camp in Abuja.

    The team will embark on a foreign training tour at the end of the month.

    Nigeria’s flying Eagles  have won a record of seven African U-20 Cup of Nations titles and are also two-times runners-up of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

    Nigeria finished second after losing to Portugal in 1989 and  Argentina in 2005  FIFA U-20 World Cup tournament.

  • Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles to play host nation, Senegal and Mozambique

    Egypt 2023: Flying Eagles to play host nation, Senegal and Mozambique

    Seven-time champions Nigeria will square up to host nation Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in the group stage of the 2023 Africa U20 Cup of Nations finals scheduled for Egypt 19th February – 11th March. The four teams are in Group A.

    The draw held in Cairo on Friday evening also placed Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo in Group B, while The Gambia, Tunisia, Benin Republic and Zambia will slot it out in Group C.

    It is the first time that the Africa U20 Cup of Nations will witness 12 teams, with the four top teams in Egypt qualifying to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals already slated for 20th May – 11th June in Indonesia.

    From the result of the draw, the Flying Eagles, who qualified as champions of WAFU B zone, will play their first match of the tournament against Senegal, who emerged from WAFU A zone.

    Egypt qualified automatically as hosts, while Tunisia emerged from North Africa and Mozambique and Zambia emerged from the COSAFA zone. The Gambia joined Senegal from WAFU A just as Benin Republic, who lost to Nigeria in the WAFU B Final in Niamey in May, joined Nigeria from WAFU B zone.

    Congo-Brazzaville and Central African Republic emerged from Central Africa, while Uganda and South Sudan are representing East Africa.