Coach Aliyu Zubairu has said the Flying Eagles still have to be prepared for the U20 AFCON after they were drawn in a more favourable first round group.
The Flying Eagles were originally pitched in ‘Group of Death’ along with Egypt, Morocco and South Africa when the tournament was to be hosted by Cote d’Ivoire.
However, the Junior Eagles will now battle Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya to reach the knockout rounds of the competition now to be hosted by Egypt.
“I think it’s high time we stopped looking as some teams as bigger, while some as smaller, I don’t think there are minnows in Africa any longer, it all depends on your level of preparation,” the Flying Eagles coach maintained.
“Imagine when the first draw was done, we called it ‘Group of Death’ simply because we were drawn alongside Egypt, South Africa and Morocco.
“Now we have a new draw that consists of Tunisia, Kenya with the same Morocco, we have started saying another difficult group.
“Which country do you want to play that is not tough?
“All, I will say is how much have we prepared is what should be the issue.”
The Flying Eagles set up training camp in Katsina for a month and also played two test games against their Ivorian counterparts in Abidjan.
They will also train for a week in Egypt ahead of their opening game against Tunisia.
