Nigeria Sports Arena

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have to submit a final 21-man squad for the 2015 AYC to CAF by midnight of Thursday, officials have disclosed. The Nigeria U20 currently have a 28-man provisional squad that includes Belgium-based defender Wilfred Ndidi and Dolphins new signing Christian Pyagbara. Pyagbara joined the Flying Eagles training camp in Abuja on their return from two warm-up matches in Ghana, while the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are waiting on Belgian club Genk over the release of Ndidi for the AYC. In the meantime, the results of the scans on Musa Yahaya and Zaharadeen Bello are expected to be made known in the new week. Yahaya suffered a knee injury during the Flying Eagles second test match against Ghana in Tema, while Bello is nursing a swollen calf. The Nigeria U20s are due to fly out for a training tour ahead of the AYC, which kicks off March 8 in Dakar, Senegal.

Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has maintained his team still need to work on some weaknesses they noticed during the two test matches against Ghana this week. The Nigeria U20 team beat their hosts 2-0 in the second friendly on Wednesday after both teams drew 2-2 in the first game on Monday. “We hope to be ready when we have picked the final squad of 21 players for the African Youth Championship and have worked on some of the grey areas we noticed in Ghana,” said Manu. “We therefore hope to soon begin our training camp in Gambia so we could concentrate on some of the lapses we saw in the team.” The Flying Eagles returned to Abuja from Ghana on Thursday. “Overall, the two matches were a good test for us and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) must again be give the credit for this,” Manu said. The Nigeria youth team are drawn in a tough Group A along with hosts Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo. The 2015 African Youth Championship ki...

Nigeria U20 team, the Flying Eagles, have named 22 players for two warm-up games against their Ghanaian counterparts. The team to be led by skipper Musa Muhamed is dominated by the players who won the FIFA U17 world Cup in UAE two years ago. They include goalkeeper Sunday Alampasu, Akinjide Idowu, Abdullahi Alfa, Zaharadeen Bello, Samuel Okon, Musa Yahaya, Chidera Ezeh and Taiwo Awoniyi. Others on the squad are goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo, Obinna Nwobodo, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Ifeanyi Matthew, Abdullahi Ibrahim Alhassan aka ‘Mu-azam’. Both the Flying Eagles and the Black Satellites are preparing for next month’s African Youth Championship in Senegal. The first test match between the two rival West African countries will be played on Saturday and a second match is fixed for Wednesday. The Flying Eagles will depart for Ghana on Friday via Lagos and return to the country on Thursday, February 19.   The squad: Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo, Sunday Alampasu, Olorunleke...

  Day 1: January 24:     Dolphins vs Pillars 1pm Enyimba vs Flying Eagles 3pm    Warri Wolves vs Dream Team 5pm   Day 2: Monday, January 26 Enyimba vs Warri Wolves 1pm Pillars vs Flying Eagles 3pm Dolphins vs Dream Team 5pm   Day 3: Wednesday, January 28 Flying Eagles vs Warri Wolves 1pm Pillars vs Dream Team 3pm Dolphins vs Enyimba 5pm   Day 4: Friday, January 30 Dream Team vs Enyimba 1pm Kano Pillars vs Warri Wolves 3pm Flying Eagles vs Dolphins 5pm   Day 5: Sunday February 1 Warri Wolves vs Dolphins 1pm Pillars vs Enyimba 3pm Dream Team vs Flying Eagles 5pm

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Giwa FC and Nigeria National U20 team goalkeeper, Ojo Olorunleke has set his target to make the final squad of the Flying Eagles to the 2015 African Youth Championship slated for Senegal in March. Having kept seven test games for the National team who are currently camping in Kaduna, Ojo believes he will definitely be among the final squad with hard work. Before the Christmas break, Ojo was in goal in three games, on resumption, he kept four straight games, saved three spot kicks and conceded a goal against Spotlight FC on Wednesday. "It is my dream to make the final sqaud to the AYC, but I knew such dream can only be accomplish with hard work. "Every player are working hard, the technical crew are building a team that will make the Nation proud. "I have been working hard in training and my mates are giving me a good challenge. "No player here is guarantee a place in the final squad, you have to work hard to sec...

English Premier League champions Manchester City have informed Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) they will not release Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali for the 2015 African Youth Championship in March in Senegal. Both players were among nine foreign-based pros called up by the Flying Eagles for the AYC. They were given a Thursday deadline to join up with the country's U20s in their training camp in Kaduna. But in a mail signed by City scouting and recruitment operations manager, Fergal Harkin, the EPL side said Iheanacho is injured and may not be fit till mid-March, while Nwakali is about to be loaned out to a club in Europe. “With regards Kelechi Iheanacho, he is currently injured. We believe he will be fit around the middle of March but can keep in contract regarding his recovery,” read Tuesday’s mail in part.   “For Chidiebere Nwakali, we are currently in the process of agreeing his loan deal to Europe and he will not be available to meet u...