01 May 2011
Nigerias Flying Eagles are united they will beat bogey team Cameroon to win a sixth African Youth Championship (AYC) on Sunday.
Both teams clashed in the group stage of the tournament in South Africa with Cameroon deserved 1-0 winners, but the Nigerians have vowed to take their pound of flesh in Sundays final at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto.
There is a huge self belief in the team that we will avenge our loss to Cameroon on Sunday, predicted defender Emmanuel Anyanwu.
It is understandable that some will not give us a chance because recent records show that Cameroon have been beating us, but there is always a time to stop this and it is now.
This is our cup. We may have lost to Cameroon in the group stage, but this is the final of the tournament and we are confident we will champions of Africa again, added the experienced Terna Suswan, who features for Portuguese club Vitoria Setubal.
Cameroon were the more convincing of the two teams in the first round of the competition and could even have won by a bigger margin on a day Nigeria failed to fire.
But while the Flying Eagles brushed aside Group A leaders Mali in the semi-final, the Young Indomitable Lions battled to stop Egypt on penalties after both teams failed to score in 120 minutes of action.
We were carried away by our victory over Ghana and so lost to Cameroon in our second match of the tournament. But that wont happen again because we will work hard to clinch the cup, said striker Olanrewaju Kayode, who has recovered from a groin injury in time for the final.
Flying Eagles skipper Ramon Azeez said the robust style and physical size of their opponents will also not deny them glory on Sunday.
They are physically strong, but we will use our skills and movement to beat them, offered the midfielder, who cried like a baby when the Golden Eaglets fell short in the final of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup against Switzerland two years ago.
This will be the first clash between the two teams at this stage of the competition.
Nigeria have won the AYC five times and have lost out on two other finals, in 2007 and 1999.
Cameroon won the tournament in 1995, when it was hosted by Nigeria, and were beaten finalists in 2009 and 1993.
