Youth national team, Flying Eagles’ coach, Paul Aigbogun has set plans in motion for a glorious outing by his squad at the 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Niger Republic.
With the tourney scheduled to hold February, footballlive.ng gathered that Aigbogun has concluded plans to open camp this weekend in Abuja, as he aims to knock his squad into proper shape for a successful outing.
Aigbogun’s squad head to Niamey on the back of their failure to win the WAFU U-20 Cup last month in Lome, Togo, such that Nigerian fans hold doubts over the squad’s ability to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Aigbogun’s team lost 2 – 0 to Senegal in the final of the WAFU contest in Lome, but the former Enyimba of Aba gaffer has promised to beef up his team and ensure they do better in the upcoming continental terrain.
For the U20 AFCON, which will hold from February 2 to 17, the Flying Eagles are in Group A, along with hosts Niger Republic, South Africa and Burundi while Group B has Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Aigbogun said his side have learnt valuable lessons at the WAFU Cup and hopes the loss to Senegal in the final will help them succeed in Niamey.
He declared: “Losing in the final was painful but I hope that loss will serve as a propeller to the team ahead of the championship proper.
“Our aim is to resume our camp early and that is why sent the proposal early enough so we can get ample time for our camping.
“(We want to start preparing early) for the tournament and I believe that, with good preparation, we can win the U-20 AFCON.”
