BY SALAU ADEKUNLE KAMORU
Less than 24 hours to the clash between Golden Eaglets of Nigeria and Baby Stallions of Burkina Faso at the on- going WAFU B U17 Championship in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’ Ivoire, Head Coach Manu Garba says he is optimistic that the five- time world champions will post another favourable outing.
The Garba-tutored Eaglets were in terrific form in scoring four goals within 35 minutes into the game to rout the Baby Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4-1 on Wednesday, and the highly experienced gaffter has said that his team, just like every other team in the tournament, wants to win every match.
“Every team wants to win every match in a competitive tournament, and so does Nigeria. We want to try as much as possible to win every match in this competition and by winning every match, we will be champions of the WAFU-B again because that is where my team belongs,” Garba said during Friday’s press conference, ahead of the game on Saturday.
“We are here to play every match according to the laws of the game, but most importantly, we want to try as much as possible to win the match against Burkina Faso,” he added.
He praised the efforts of his young players against Benin Republic, noting that none of the players was in the last edition of the tournament in Ghana. “My boys did very well against the Benin Republic. I did say that, that was their first international game. Most of these boys have never entered an airplane before coming to Ghana here. This is a new team. None of these boys featured the last time we played in the WAFU B U17 Championship in Ghana.
“As the tournament progresses, they will get better. In our last game, against the Beninoise, my captain was elbowed in the chest, so I had to bring him out. He has fully recovered now. I’m very optimistic that this team will get better,” he concluded.
The game is slated for 4pm Nigeria time at the Stade Lycee Scientifique in Yamoussoukro.
