Flying Eagles captain, Ramon Azeez and teammate, Olarenwaju Kayode will today join the rest of the team as they continue the build-up for the world U-20 championship slated for Colombia. It is now exactly two weeks before Nigeria’s opening match at the U-20 World Cup in the South American nation.
The Flying Eagles also commenced the four-nation tournament without the duo and focused on the opening match of the four-nation tournament yesterday against hosts Panama without the players.
The team ahead the opener had a 45-minute first training Saturday night at the Agustin “Muquita” Sanchez Stadium on the outskirts of Panama City. The stadium is the home of one of the country’s leading clubs, San Francisco Monks. It has an artificial pitch, but the venue for the four-nation tourney is a natural grass.
The training was basically jogging, shorts sprints and stretching exercises and some ball work at the end.
“The weather here is similar to what we have back home in Nigeria,” revealed assistant coach Samuel Abimbola and forward, Terry Envoh.
Goalkeeper Gideon Gambo is still out with an ankle injury he picked up from the Portugal friendly, so also Belgium-based central defender Jamiu Alimi.
The Flying Eagles had their first feel of the match venue on Sunday at the 25,000-capacity Estadio Rommel Fernandez.
“The pitch is okay, even though it is not as good as what we played on against Portugal in Lisbon,” says striker Sani Emmanuel.
Skipper Ramon Azeez and Olanrewaju Kayode, who are expected to join the team today will miss the first two games against Panama and Portugal in the Copa Presidente de la Republica.
Kayode will also miss the opening World Cup game against Guatemala on July 31 in Armenia after he was sent off in the final of the African Youth Championship in South Africa.
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