The Flying Eagles led by coach Ladan Bosso will tonight inside the Cairo International Stadium begin their quest for an eighth U20 AFCON title when they take on Senegal in an opening Group A tie.
Kick-off time is 6pm in Nigeria and the game will be live on SuperSport.
It will be the first real test for Bosso and his team since they topped the qualifying tournament for this year’s U20 AFCON in May in Niamey, Niger Republic.
A lot is riding on this opening game, but the experienced coach has insisted that should they be on top of their game tonight, “it could be our easiest match”.
“We are proud to be in Egypt for this great tournament and we want to qualify for the FIFA World Cup and win the tournament,” Dakkada FC midfielder Daniel Daga said in a pre-match press briefing.
Bosso has re-organised the team who qualified the country to Egypt 2023 that only 11 of the players from the qualifiers survived the purge.
Goalkeeper Nathanial Nwosu, fullback Augustine Njoku, midfielders Daniel Daga, Onuche Ogbelu and Samson Lawal as well as wingers Ibrahim Mohammed ‘Beji’ and Haliru Sarki remain from the qualifiers and will again play a big role in Egypt.
Preparations for the U20 AFCON, which will also serve as qualifiers for the U20 FIFA World Cup in Indonesia in May, have been a lot better than the 10-day build-up to the WAFU B qualifying series last year.
The team have enjoyed two training camps in Abuja before a week-long acclimatisation in Morocco leading up to this tournament.
The Flying Eagles have now been unbeaten in 19 test matches after wins over Zambia and Congo as well as several top league clubs in Nigeria.
Tonight’s match-up is one between two teams on the ascendancy as the Junior Teranga Lions of Senegal have also posted an impressive record after they topped their qualifying WAFU A section.
Captain Samba Diallo from Ukrainian club Dynamo Kiev finished top scorer with four goals and he has also been among the goals in warm-up wins over Zambia and Tunisia.
The Flying Eagles pipped hosts Senegal 1-0 to win the 2015 U20 AFCON in Dakar.
The result of this West African Derby will most certainly set the tone in what has been widely dubbed ‘The Group of Death’, which also has hosts Egypt and Mozambique.
