The junior national team drew 1-1 with the Super Eagles
The Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi has commended the performance of the Flying Eagles after the team battled the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw.
The encounter was a tune-up match between the two teams at the Practice Pitch of the National Stadium, Abuja, as they prepare for their respective assignments.
Keshi said the encounter was good for both teams because it enabled the handlers to properly assess their players in a real match atmosphere.
“It was a practice match and it was good for the both sides, especially the Flying Eagles, and this encounter will foster a better understanding in the team,” he said.
The coach added that some new players had to be invited into the Super Eagles camp, while eight of the regular set of players had gone to feature for their clubs in a CAF Champions League encounter in South Africa.
Keshi said the newly invited players would be undergoing a continuous evaluation process.
“I’ve seen one or two players and they are not bad players at all, it’s not the score line that matters, it’s just for us to see how we can function together. That is what we’ve been trying to do in the last four days since we came to camp,” Keshi said.
John Obuh, the head coach of the Flying Eagles, said he was happy with the game and the performance of his players.
“I am just happy that the game ended 1-1 but I wish that they had scored first so that I will be able to see the reaction of my players if they had lost the game,” Obuh said.
He said that the team was still in the process of being properly harnessed in terms of areas of strengths and weaknesses of each player.
The Super Falcons’ Coach, Kadiri Ikhana, who was also present along with his team, said that the performance of the two teams was commendable.
“I want to appreciate the U-20 team for taking the will to play against the senior team and notching a good result from the encounter. Most of the Super Eagles players were not around so one cannot say, but as for the game itself, I think it lived up to expectation,” Ikhana said.
The Super Eagles are scheduled to play an international friendly with Peru on May 23 in Lima, Peru, while the Flying Eagles will feature in an eight-nation invitational tournament in South Africa from May 24 to June 3.
