19th July, 2011
The captain of the Flying Eagles to the Africa Youth Championship in South Africa and member of the team currently in Colombia for the World Youth Championship, Ramon Azeez, says Nigerians should expect nothing short of victory from them at the Junior FIFA World Cup.
The midfielder made this declaration shortly before he travelled to Colombia to team up with his colleagues that have been perfecting tactics and techniques in Faro Portugal for a couple of weeks and now playing in the Four-Nation Invitational Tourney in Panama.
Azeez believes the Flying Eagles can go on to become the world champions, after the Ghanian youth team,known as the Black Satellites, made Africa proud at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt, after defeating Brazil 4-3 on penalties. “We want to win the trophy and stamp the name of Nigeria on it just as Ghana did. It will be the best way to make up for not winning the Under-17 World Cup in Abuja two years ago.â€
“We are highly focus and motivated. With the prayers of our fans and luck on our side, we are coming back to this country with the trophy,†confident Azeez stated.
Meanwhile, Nigerians will have to stay awake till the early hours to watch the Flying Eagles group matches as most of their matches will be televised at early hours.
A nation of passionate football fans is used to this and hopefully the sacrifice will be rewarded by a glorious outing as it happened during the Atlanta Olympic Games 15 years ago.
—Bamidele Olowosagba