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U20 Afcon: Ladan Bosso explains drop WAFU B winners from final Nigeria squad
By: Monsurah Olatunji
Nigeria U20 men’s national team head coach, Ladan Bosso has confidently said that he can boost of a better squad for the upcoming U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt later this month.
The Flying Eagles won the WAFU B championship which serves as the qualifying tournament in Niger Republic in May with less than two weeks of preparation.
However, the WAFU-B winners will likely field only eleven players from the qualifiers at the continental showpiece in Egypt, with wingers Jude Sunday and Emmanuel Uchegbu, strikers Olamilekan Adams and Francis Ayuba and defenders Daniel Bamaiyi, Solomon Agbalaka, Abel Ogwuche, and Michael Oloho among the new additions.
After two extended training camps in Abuja, the team left for a closed-camping in Morocco on Wednesday and the 2007 Afcon winning manager explained reasons behind the rejigging of this squad.
“This is a better team than the one from the qualifying tournament,” Bosso revealed to media.
“One of our best players in Niger was Ibrahim Mohammed ‘Ibeji’, but he has not been at his best and such is the depth in the talent of the current team that I could drop him without losing much sleep.
“Or take the case of Lawal Samson, who featured regularly in Niger, but now has to fight for a first-team place. Qualifying for the World Cup is the target and anything after that will be a bonus,” he concluded.
While in Morocco, the seven-time African champions will engage in two friendlies against Benin Republic and South Sudan.
The Flying Eagles are expected to land in Egypt for 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations next weekend where the Ladan Bosso’s side will take on Senegal in their opening game in the competition on Sunday, February 19.
Hosts Egypt and Mozambique are the other teams in the group. All four semi-finalists will qualify to represent Africa at the 23rd FIFA U20 World Cup finals slated for Indonesia from 20th May -11 June this year.
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