The battle for the 21 final squad places to next month’s U20 AFCON will resume this weekend when the Flying Eagles re-open training camp in Abuja.
Coach Ladan Bosso told SCORENigeria he picked at least 12 players good for the U20 AFCON and hopefully the U20 World Cup after the team’s previous camp in December.
Going by the close monitoring by SCORENigeria of that training camp, the most likely players who convinced Bosso include fullback Dominion Ohaka, central defender Benjamin Fredrick, midfielders Daniel Daga and Abdulrahman Adam as well as striker Francis Ayuba.
Others will be acting captain Ibrahim Yahaya, who is now more comfortable playing behind the top striker, as well as twinkle-toed winger Jude Sunday and Ojora Mustapha.
The three goalkeepers to the WAFU B qualifying tournament in Niger Republic in May also stood out – first-choice Nathaniel Nwosu, Saheed Jimoh and Chijoke Aniagboso – and should also be making their way to Egypt.
Remo Stars right winger Olamilekan Adams and skillful centre-forward Olusegun Otusanya impressed, but they may need to do more if they hope to make the final cut.
Enyimba central defender Tosin Adegbite led the team to top the qualifiers, but injury kept him out of the camp last month.
He has fully recovered in time for the U20 AFCON.
The Flying Eagles coach has said he will consider four players who featured in the qualifying tournament and have since transferred overseas.
The players are Ibrahim Mohammed ‘Ibeji’ (Spain), Ahmed Abdullahi (Belgium), Lekan Oyedele (Portugal) and Samson Lawal (Germany).
This means that about three squad places are actually up for grabs from this weekend as the likes of Aminu Mohammed, Anas Hassan, Albert Hilary and Ridwan Sarki, who all featured in the qualifiers, are in danger of missing out.
Most Likely On Final U20 AFCON Squad:
Goalkeepers: Nathaniel Nwosu, Saheed Jimoh, Chijoke Aniagboso
Defenders: Tosin Adegbite, Augustine Njoku, Lekan Oyedele, Dominion Ohaka, Benjamin Frederick, Solomon Agbalaka
Midfielders: Daniel Daga, Abdulrahaman Adam, Samson Lawal, Ogbelu Onuche
Forwards: Ibrahim Mohammed ‘Ibeji’, Ahmed Abdullahi, Francis Ayuba, Ojora Mustapha, Jude Sunday
