Nigeria’s under-20 national team, Flying Eagles’ coach, Aliyu Zubairu is not getting carried away by his side’s 2-0 victory over Ivory Coast, as he confessed that he is yet to get a balanced squad.
Sports247 reports that a 63rd minute penalty opened the goals’ count for Zubairu’s side on Wednesday in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, following which Divine Oliseh netted the visitors’ second in the 80th minute of play, but their coach is apparently not satisfied.
However, with both squads set to tango at the same venue once again this Friday, Zubairu has charged his players to put up a better performance, as he warned that anyone among them who underperforms would be shown the exit door.
Zubairu started by revealing his mission to the Ivorien capital and declared: “In as much as we are still in the building process, we came here for the friendly matches, to be able to know the level at which some of the old players that went to the WAFU-B competition are and see the new ones that want to join us.”
He then issued a wake-up up call to all the lads to remain on their toes, as he is yet to make up his mind on the final roster of lads he will keep in the squad for the African U20 Cup of Nations, which is scheduled to hold in the same country from April 26 to May 18.
“If those that went to WAFU cannot meet up with the standard we are looking for, definitely, they will be replaced. So also for the new ones; we will drop them if they cannot fit in. We still have to keep searching until we get a balanced team for Nigeria’s under-20 squad,” said Zubairu.
The tactician, who is also the substantial coach of last year’s President Federation Cup winners, El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri, will aim to complement his squad selection with another sterling performance on Friday, as he perfects preparations ahead of this year’s U20 AFCON, where his team will battle Egypt, Morocco and South Africa in Group B.
