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U20 Afcon: Flying Eagles embark on two-week break, resume camp early January
By Monsurah Olatunji
The Nigeria U20 national team, Flying Eagles have been given a short break from their ongoing training camp for the 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.
The holiday will avail the players and the officials of the team time with their family members for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Ladan Bosso’s side have have been camp for almost two months, playing six local friendlies, scoring 35 goals and conceding just only once so far.
They defeated AS Roma Academy 2-0 before roasting Kano-based team, AA Zaura FC 8-1, and went on to thrash Kickers Academy 8-0 at the FIFA Goal Project Football Field.
The victory against Kickers was the sixth in six games for the Flying Eagles since Bosso-led side opened camp on November 28 ahead of the 2023 Africa U20 Cup of Nations scheduled to take place in Egypt next year.
Bosso said his team will begin the second phase of their preparation by January 6.
Meanwhile, they will take on Professional Football League clubs, Nasarawa United, Wikki Tourists, and Lobi Stars, in a preparatory friendly this week before going on break.
The coach made it known that games will be the final lap of their preparation with home-based players before inviting foreign-based players to join the team when they resume in January.
“If I am calling a player based abroad, I expect that he walks into the team and makes a difference. I won’t bring players from abroad to come and seat on the bench,” Bosso told Owngoal.
“I have ten names in mind but I need to see where we will be needing reinforcement before inviting players,” he concluded.
The U20 AFCON will be played between February 18 and March 12, 2023, in Egypt, where the top four teams in the competition will represent Africa at the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
The Flying Eagles last featured at the U20 World Cup in 2019 in Poland, where they reached the round of 16.
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