Nigeria’s under-20 national team, Flying Eagles’ coach, Aliyu Zubairu has downplayed his side’s 2-0 loss to Ivory Coast in the second friendly match between both teams, with a view that the result of Friday’s game does not really matter.
Sports247 reports that Zubairu’s team fell to the Junior Elephant’s in exactly the same manner they had earlier beaten their hosts during the first friendly on Wednesday, as a first half penalty put the Ivorians one up before the second came few minutes after the restart.
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Zubairu admitted he would have loved seeing his team win both games in Abidjan, but consoled himself in an observation that the players comported themselves adequately, considering the experimental nature of the two matches; as they head into the Africa U20 Cup of Nations, which comes up later this month in the same country.
Zubairu, who is also still the substantive head coach at El-Kanemi Warriors FC of Maiduguri, declared: “The result of the match doesn’t really matter, because of the stage at which we are now. We are trying to cut out a team and combine two things together. We want to sort out the players and also prepare the team.
“We have a very limited time, but it’s good that we play these friendly matches. It’s not the result that matters. Seeing the way the team is gelling is the most important thing for now.”
Zubairu then spoke about the different strategies and tactics he adopted for both games, as he pointed out that it is always good to have various options to pick from when going out for a major championship, like the one lying ahead of him and his players.
“Few of the players that were in the team before now will be given opportunities, and others will be tried, so that the team does not look completely new. But there’s no way you will compare the experience of someone who has been there earlier with someone that is going for the first time.
“It’s open for every good player that is within the age and, certainly, they will be given equal opportunities. That’s why we adopted different tactics for both matches. We wanted to see various tactics that can work during the AFCON proper … so that we can have Plans A and B. Should in case Plan A fail us as a team, we can quickly switch to Plan B,” Zubairu expatiated.
The Flying Eagles will face Egypt, Morocco and South Africa in Group B of this year’s U20 AFCON from Aprjl 26th to May 18th in Cote d’Ivoire.
