Nigeria’s under-20 national team, Flying Eagles’ coach, Aliyu Zubairu insists that his squad’s recent trip to Ivory Coast for two friendly matches was not a wasteful expedition, as he was able achieve what he aimed for before going for the games.
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Sports247 gathered that many critics are still apprehensive of the rationale behind playing two matches against the same team at a single venue in Ivory Coast and within a space of three days, but Zubairu insists he achieved what he wanted to get from both games.
Ironically, Zubairu’s team lost the second game by the same 2-0 scoreline with which they won the first encounter between both sides in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, where each side also netted a penalty apiece in either of the matches.
While taking another look back in his assessment of the games, Zubairu stressed that it was a learning curve for him and his players, as he wanted to try out various tactics before heading back to the same country for the 2025 African U20 Cup of Nations at the end of this month.
The amiable tactician expatiated, “We really wanted to assess most of the players, that’s number one. Number two, we needed to check out our tactical approach that we are trying to put in place, and we are likely going to adapt during our preparation.”
Zubairu then unfolded part of his emerging tactical approach, which he said involves different game plans, two of which were tried in either match that his squad played during the recent friendlies and they will now work on to perfect before heading back for the U20 AFCON.
“In the first match, we used Plan A, and it worked, but we decided that, should in case the opponent come with a superior approach or when they neutralise our tactics, let’s go for Plan B.
“That’s exactly what we did for the second game but, eventually, we lost the match. We made some changes. One or two new players were given opportunities to play. All the same, what we went there to see, we’ve seen it,” Zubairu posited.
