21st June, 2013
The major sponsor of Nigerian national teams, Globacom, has tasked the Flying Eagles to make the country proud at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which gets underway in Turkey Friday.
Nigeria take on Portugal in the opening Group B game and will battle Cuba on 24 June before wrapping up the group games with South Korea on 27 June.
Globacom expressed confidence in the junior national team to live up to expectations in the global competition.
“We have observed the Flying Eagles’ preparation for the World Cup and are convinced that they will perform creditably well,” Glo said.
Globacom stated that the Nigerian team’s pedigree in this competition is not in doubt, adding that history often counts.
“We also believe that the team have quality players to deliver the goods, and the fact that there has not been any distraction in their preparation will be an added advantage,” said the company.
“Though Nigeria are yet to win the U-20 World Cup, we have a tradition of progressing far in the tournament and we believe we have what it takes at this time to make history. We call on all Nigerians to pray for the team to excel,” Glo said.
Globacom is the official telecommunications partner of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, and the major sponsor of the Nigerian national teams.
Portugal beat Nigeria 2-1 at the recent Toulon International Tournament in France as a prelude to the showdown.
But the Flying Eagles played a mostly experimental side in Toulon as they tried out several new and fringe players.
Midfielder Ovbokha Agboyi was one of several of the established players who did not play in Toulon and he said it was crucial to get off to a winning start against a good Portugal team in Kayseri.
“The opening game is very important for us. We lost our first game to Mali at the AYC and it really affected us. We cannot afford this at the World Cup,” the Bayelsa United defensive midfielder declared.
“We saw Portugal in Toulon and they are a good team and so we have to be at our best Friday.”
Nigeria German assistant coach Jurgen Press said he rates Portugal very highly.
“Portugal will be one of the top four teams at this World Cup. They are tactically sound and parade some very experienced players,” he said.
“But we also have a good team and have picked up a few interesting things about them in Toulon which we hope to use in our favour on Friday.”