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Nigeria coach Ladan Bosso eager to settle unfinished business at U20 World Cup
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Nigeria U20 head coach, Ladan Bosso says he has an unfinished business to settle at the next FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Bosso was in charge of Nigeria’s U-20 side at the 2007 FIFA World Cup in Canada where the team crashed out at the Round of 16 with a 4-0 loss to Chile.
The team had qualified from Group F with seven points after defeating Costa Rica and Scotland respectively and settling for a 0-0 draw with Japan.
“I have unfinished business at the Under-20 World Cup and I want to return to do what I could not do when I took Flying Eagles to Chile in 2007,” Bosso told Completesports.com.
“So many things happened, then but I am now much wiser, experienced, and ready to give it a big go. I will target reaching the medals stage and see how it goes, but first, we must qualify for the World Cup.
“We won the WAFU qualifiers in Niger Republic and it’s my wish that we go to the World Cup in Indonesia as the champions of Africa. That aside, I want to make amends for the 2007 not-pleasant performance of the Flying Eagles. I want to improve on it by going all the way.”
To clinch a World Cup ticket, the Flying Eagles have to navigate past Senegal, Egypt, and Mozambique in the group stage of the 2023 U-20 AFCON.
The team resumed camp this week in preparation for 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with two foreign-based players and Bosso explained why he invited overseas-based players despite all the local talents at his disposal.
“it’s a tough group truly but we shall be ready for the task. Senegal will be the most difficult match of the group because we don’t know much about them and I doubt if they know us at all,” Bosso continued.
“Winning our opening game against Senegal will go a long in boosting our qualification, we must go all out for a win. We are no longer screening players for AFCON, that is why we reinvited the 35 players selected from the last camping late last year.
“The idea is to blend them very well and see if the new invitees and the foreign-based ones can break into the team. No foreign-based player who failed to join us here will be allowed during the training tour. Every player must prove himself before we leave this country.”
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