Nigerian youth national team, Flying Eagles captain, Ikouwem Udoh Utin has already put his mind beyond his side’s 5-0 win over Mauritania on Saturday, as he has set a target to win next year’s African U20 Nations Cup with the squad.
The Enyimba of Aba left-back said he was happy to beat the Mauritanians so convincingly at Agege Stadium, Lagos, but stressed that they now have to start thinking of winning the 2019 AFCON youth championship and qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup.
Utin said the team’s next target is to win the U20 AFCON in Niger Republic and qualify for the Youth Mundial in Poland, since the last Flying Eagles squad failed to qualify to contest in Africa and for the 2017 global edition in South Korea, won by England.
He refrained from writing of Mauritania, due to the massive scoreline at The Temple of Soccer, but attributed the big win to hard work by the Nigerian team.
Utin said: “They are a good side because they disqualified Morocco and Equatorial Guinea but we thank God we were able to take them out of the qualifiers.
“In the game of football, there’s no small team. When preparation meets opportunity, success always comes in. We’ve prepared for it and we have qualified.
“Our aim is to go to Niger and win the Nations Cup. Of course qualification for the FIFA World Cup is our major target.”
