Nigeria’s cadet national team, Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba has declared that his squad will be ready to take on all comers next month at an invitational competition in Turkey.
Footballlive.ng gathered that Garba’s side will travel for the build-up competition in Turkey early next month, as they commence preparations for the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations in Tanzania.
Garba, who won UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup with the like of Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Sunday Dele Alampasu and Isaac Success in his squad, but failed to qualify for the 2017 edition won by England, said his latest squad be ready before Tanzania 2019 begins on April 14.
Nigeria are in Group A, alongside Tanzania, Angola and Uganda, ahead of which the Eaglets, who won the world title in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015, will be in Turkey next month for a build-up competition.
The record extending five time Cadet World Cup winners reached for the U-17 AFCON by emerging winners of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B qualifiers in Benin Republic, and Garba expects his side to go all the way to glory in Tanzania and reach the World Cup in Peru.
Although he admitted that his players are yet to reach optimum fitness levels, after recently returning to camp in Abuja, Garba says they will be ready physically, tactically and technically to shine in Turkey.
Garba disclosed: “We are just into a week in training and I can say we are more than fifty percent set in aspect of techniques and tactical ability.
”As for physical fitness, we are still a bit behind. That not withstanding, we are trying to meet up with everything.
“We want to make sure we get to at least eighty percent level of fitness so that we can give our best in the preparatory tournament in Turkey.
”The ultimate is to go to Tanzania, qualify for the World Cup as African champions, Nigeria being the best at U17 level.
”These are our aspirations. I happen to be one of the coaches that have two World Cup medals.
“God willing, we will raise a team that will make Nigeria proud by qualifying for the World Cup as African champions.”
