‘Flying Eagles a work in progress ahead of WAFU-B final’ – Coach Aliyu Zubair

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

As Nigeria’s U-20 national team prepare to face rivals, Ghana in the final of West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers final, the head coach of the team is looking forward to clinch the title.

With two wins out of their three games, Nigeria hope to to retain the title after sealing qualification for 2025 U-20 AFCON.

With the final match rekindling rivalry with Ghana, Zubair says that alone is a motivating force to bolster the team.

“We watched them [Ghana] here in one of their group matches against Togo and their semi final match against Cote D’Ivoire,” Zubair told Diamond FM, Ilesa, Osun state.

“It has been a long time rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana at any level and this one is not going to be an exception. The boys know the importance of the match and the rivalry between the two teams. That alone is enough to psyche the team and motivate them for the final.”

Yet to keep a clean sheet at the tournament, Nigeria has scored five goals and conceded three, one in each games.

“There is no complete team in the world,” He added. “Anywhere we see there is a deficiency, there is always room for addition and subtraction.

“I think it is some degree of not being careful or losing concentration in the match. That is what is causing it and we have been trying to work on that.

“If you allow some teams to score you first, you will be in big trouble. We should always defend well while attacking so that we don’t concede at all. We should know that we are looking for goals and not to be conceding all the time.” He concluded.

The team bounced back from a 1-0 loss to Burkina Faso to edge Cote D’Ivoire 2-1 which qualified them for the semi final where a 3-1 win secured a date with Ghana on Wednesday.