Flying Eagles coach Aliyu Zubairu is upbeat about his team’s chances at this year’s U20 World Cup in Chile, going further to say he now parades a sharper attack unlike what was the case at the U20 AFCON in Egypt.
The Flying Eagles drew one match (1-1 vs Chile) and won one (3-1 vs Australia) during their friendly outings in Chile, scoring four goals in total.
Unlike at the AFCON, where the team struggled to find the back of the net, the coach was pleased to see different players contributing goals.
“At AFCON, our attack was not biting at all. But from these two matches, you can see the difference—our attack is sharper, and we are exploiting spaces better in the final third,” he remarked.
“It’s a big improvement, and with the little time left before the World Cup, we will continue to work on it.”
He added: “In the two matches we played here, the results were not even the most important thing. What mattered to us was identifying our deficiencies and working on them.
“Against Chile, we noticed a lot of areas to improve, and by the time we faced Australia, the corrections we made really worked. We saw clear improvement.”
He further stressed that the friendly games had boosted the team’s confidence and provided a clear direction ahead of their opening World Cup match against Norway.
Flying Eagles re drawn in Group F with Norway, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia.
Their opening fixture comes against Norway on Monday, September 29, followed by matches with Saudi Arabia on October 2 and Colombia on October 5.
