SA Tourney Not My Priority – Obuh

Chief Coach of the Flying Eagles, John Obuh has said that the invitational U-20 tournament slated for Capetown, South Africa next month is not his top priority.

According to Obuh, despite the fact that the Capetown tourney will feature countries like Brazil, Argentina, Ghana, Japan and South Africa who all have formidable records in youth football, the main concern of football loving Nigerians is to see that the Flying Eagles excel at the qualifying campaign for the African Youth Championship AYC, which begins in July.

He stressed the need to have quality players in the team that will meet the expectations of Nigerians.

“I don’t want Nigerians to start thinking about how the Flying Eagles will beat Brazil or Argentina or even deal with Ghana at the invitational tournament. That’s not the essence of our participating at the tournament in South Africa. We want to use the tournament to test the new players in the team to examine the standard of their play in match situations,” Obuh told P.M.Sports in Abuja.

Having won the first edition of the tournament, Obuh is of the firm opinion that the Flying Eagles have nothing to fear against Brazil, Argentina and other teams, but agreed that the team must be prepared to qualify for the AYC.

“We don’t have anything to prove at the tournament, because Nigeria won the inaugural edition and if we win the tournament and fumble at the African qualifiers, Nigerians will not be happy.

“The AYC qualifiers are crucial, and later the World Cup, that is my main priority, but we will use the invitational tournament in Capetown to prepare the team for the future.”

The former coach of the Golden Eaglets also revealed that some players will be decamped from the Flying Eagles this weekend ahead of the tournament.“

The players have been training now in camp for almost a week. We have seen some of the players that have the potentials to remain in the team, while the others have to leave this weekend,” he concluded.

By Francis Achi, Abuja