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“Time is very important to prepare a team for such major competitions. People have been given three years and they failed; some have been given shorter time to prepare and they succeeded. I will be one of those given a short time but who go on to succeed. I believe I will. This is my time.”
The words of Coach John Obuh at the beginning of the tournament, words which are shaping to be true. But can the Flying Eagles maintain their good form and retain the trophy for Africa?
Their preparation for the mundial was less than impressive after taking the rear in a four-nation tourney in Panama and doubts were raised about the team’s title credentials. All those doubts were erased when the Flying Eagles thumped Guatemala 5-0 in the first game and followed it up with another impressive performance in the second game against Croatia as they won 5-2. The team now has the most goals in the tournament and have quickly become favourites? alongside Spain and Argentina to win the competition. Also, the Flying Eagles are now the top-scoring African side in the history of the competition as they surpassed Ghana’s record of 55 goals, having scored 58 goals.
Coach John Obuh has proved that consistency is the key, as majority of the players played together in the U-17 team and have seemingly got stronger as they won the CAF U-20 Cup in South Africa early this year. Though some additions have been made to the team, the players who make up the spine of the team have been together for over three years. Some notable additions like Ahmed Musa (regarded as Nigeria’s ‘next big thing’). The speedy winger? has lived up to the hype with two goals and a couple of assists to his credit. Captain Ramon Azeez has been inspirational so far.
Obuh had said that his team will be wary of all opposition and will not be carried away by their impressive start. He had also tried to keep his boys away from scouts who had thronged the team’s base in Armenia with the hope of signing them for big European clubs, but had been told by Obuh to focus on winning the competition first and other good things that will arrive as a result.
This is the right step in the right direction as was reported during the U-17 world Cup held in Nigeria in 2009,in the final game against Switzerland, a game the Eaglets had gone into as favourites,but ended up losing, because of the promise by someone to give a cash reward to the first Nigerian player to score. This affected the team spirit in the game, as everyone had their eyes on goal and the cash reward. At the end of the day Nigeria lost the trophy.
According to an Abuja-based football analyst, Boboye, the Flying Eagles look good and they are a representation of what modern football is all about.?
“They have everything: power, pace and poise.To cap it off with the World Cup will be befitting, but it is vital that they don’t? get carried away. There are still cracks in the team, especially from defending set pieces. There is still some way to go and their true test will come at the knock-out stages.
“Nevertheless, Coach John Obuh deserves commendation for a job well done already. He is in line.”
Kaduna-based fan of the team, Larry Musa, is bowled over by the team’s performance.
“I am very impressed with the performance of the junior Eagles, so far. They remind me of Barcelona: the goals are coming from everywhere. We have four players with two goals each in the team, and this tells a lot about our attacking play. I just pray the team will maintain their momentum and that Coach John Obuh gets his tactics right in the latter stages of the competition.”
Another fan, Suleiman said, “I think we can go all the way and retain the trophy for Africa, because looking at this team, there is not much difference in terms of quality between this team and the Ghanaian team that won the tournament two years ago. They had Andre Ayew driving the team then and now we have Ahmed? Musa who has been outstanding. Presently, in the competition the so-called favourites Argentina,Brazil and Spain are yet to light up the tournament in terms of goals, so I think we satnd a good chance of beating any of these top teams, because in football, to win any competition, you need an element of luck.
“I believe that having come close twice, this team ought to succeed and prove that we are really African champions.”
As the competition reaches its business end, the Flying Eagles may play fellow Africans Egypt or last tournament finalist Brazil.