28 April 2011
Flying Eagles of Nigeria coach, John Sam Obuh, has declared his team will make history by winning the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.
Ghana became the first African team to win the FIFA Under-20 World Cup two years ago in Egypt and Obuh said he believes his team could follow in the footsteps of the Black Satelites in Colombia from July.
Our target is to make history for the country and ourselves. We have ambitions. We have played two finals of this competition and are yet to win it and so making history will now be to win it, said Obuh.
Nigeria are drawn in a relatively easy Group D in Colombia along with Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Guatemala.
I wouldnt say this is a tough or easy group, said Obuh.
These days, I dont put a lot of importance on what group I find myself. This was after the Under-17 World Cup, where we were suppose to be in the Group of Death. Also at the AYC, it was another so-called Group of Death that had Ghana and Cameroon.
The best approach therefore is to face any team you come across in any competition.
We still need to be focussed on our group for the World Cup, put in all we have got so as to go beyond this stage of the competition.
The Flying Eagles have already clashed with the Saudis in a friendly in Dubai recently. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
We drew that game but we had everything going for us to win it. We outplayed them and now at least seven of the players who played against them in Dubai are not here with us in South Africa for the AYC. We have a better team now than we had in Dubai.
All the same, we will not underrate any of our opponents because there could be surprises. Every game in our group will be like a cup final. We just have to be prepared.
Nigeria have also played against Guatemala. Guatemala won 3-1 in an invitational tourney in Egypt prior to the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Then coach, Samson Siasia, rested his key stars for the match so that fringe players could get some playing time.
