Head coach of Nigeria’s U-20 men’s team, Aliyu Zubairu, has declared that the Flying Eaglesare firmly focused on playing all four matches at the WAFU-B U-20 Championship; a path the team chose to lead Nigeria straight to lifting the trophy.
Zubairu made the statement after overseeing a 4-1 victory over Benin Republic in Nigeria’s second group game, which puts the defending champions on course for a place in the semi-finals.
Flying Eagles Dominate Benin in Statement Win
Nigeria came into the game on the back of a draw in their opening group fixture and needed all three points to strengthen their push for the knockout stage.
Goals from the young Eagles saw them breeze past their West African neighbours in style, showcasing attacking flair and defensive awareness.
Speaking after the game, Coach Zubairu praised his players for their tactical discipline and swift adaptation against an unfamiliar opponent.
“A team you don’t know, you use like 15-20 minutes to understudy them and exactly what we did.”
“We realized that their strength is from the flank so we tried to clip the flank to make sure we block it.”
“They don’t have opportunity to operate from the flank and I think that made them to resort to want to play in the middle and they couldn’t have much of the opportunity to operate from the middle.”
The coach credited the game plan’s effectiveness as key to their dominance, adding that his team had been mentally prepared to go all the way from the moment they saw the tournament draw.
“We’re working towards the trophy” – Coach Zubairu
Zubairu reiterated that the Flying Eagles’ ambition remains to retain their WAFU-B crown, as they aim to play and win all four possible matches.
“I think exactly that is what happened. When we left Nigeria, after we saw the draws, we agreed that we are going to play just four matches and four matches you can get the trophy. So that is what we are working towards.”
“Now two, we’ve gotten two right, we will try and get the third one right as well. The more we go, the closer we will be to the trophy.”
Group Standing & Road Ahead
With four points from two matches, Nigeria is now in a strong position to advance to the semi-finals, needing a positive result in their final group match to secure progression.
Victory in the semi-final would not only take the Flying Eagles to the final, but also secure qualification for the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations which is one of the key objectives of this tournament.
Coach Zubairu and his staff will now shift their attention to preparing for the next challenge as they look to take one more step toward retaining the regional title.
