The National Sports Commission (NSC) has hailed the Nigeria U20 Team, the Flying Eagles, for booking a semi final ticket at the AFCON U20 tournament in Egypt and ultimately securing their place at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile.
The Aliyu Zubairu team achieved the feat after knocking out defending champions Senegal in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Monday at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia, Egypt.
An excited Chairman of the NSC, Mallam Shehu Dikko, said the performance of the boys has steadily improved with every game they played, and they were a better side against their Senegalese opponents.
Dikko said: “I must thank the Nigeria Football Federation for this qualification feat, which shows the collective resilience of the boys and their coaching crew. The boys’ performance so far only shows the hard work that was put into the team, both in preparations and camping.
“We have a very good record at this level, and the boys showed it with their performance today. On behalf of all Nigerians and Mr. President, I want to charge them to remain focused until they win the tournament.”
In his remarks, the Director General of the NSC, Hon. Bukola Olopade, said that the feat of the Flying Eagles is the latest success story the country is witnessing from its various sports federations.
He said: “It’s not a fluke that we are seeing that most of our national teams in different sports are producing impressive performances at international competitions because, based on the mandate given to us, Mr. President is very intentional about the sustainability of the country’s sports development from the grassroots.
“This is why we are deliberately committed to adequate funding of the various federations so that our players and athletes get the support they need at all times to give their all while representing the country.”
The DG further expressed confidence that, having crossed the first hurdle of securing the World Cup ticket in Chile, the Flying Eagles can now go all the way to winning the tournament.
Nigeria will take on South Africa in one of the semifinal matches for a place in the final, while it will be a North African affair when host Egypt takes on Morocco in the other semifinal match.
