'We had four players from the U17s' - Flying Eagles coach lauds Eguavoen for keeping detailed database

Aliyu Zubairu, coach of Nigeria's national U-20 football team, has expressed his gratitude towards Augustine Eguavoen, the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), for his instrumental role in facilitating the smooth transition of players from age-grade levels to the national team.

Zubairu's comments came after his Flying Eagles triumphed at the just-concluded WAFU Zone B tournament in Togo.

Despite a setback in their opening match against Burkina Faso, the Flying Eagles bounced back to defeat arch-rivals Ghana 2-1 in the final, clinching the tournament title and securing a coveted spot in the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled to take place in South Africa.

Speaking in a media session with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Kwara State Chapter attended by allnigeriasoccer.com, Zubairu highlighted the key role Eguavoen has played in keeping a comprehensive database of players who have excelled at various age-grade competitions.

This initiative, according to Zubairu, is pivotal in ensuring a seamless transition of top talent from the U-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, to the U-20 Flying Eagles.

"If you are given U-20," Zubairu explained. "All you need to do is to approach the technical department headed by the Technical Director. I have been given the job of the U-20 head coach, can we please have the names of those players that can transit from the last U-17 to the U-20? It is very simple. They just go through the data and bring it out."

Zubairu praised interim Super Eagles coach Eguavoen, for addressing the previous challenges associated with player transitions.

He emphasized that thanks to Eguavoen’s efforts, he was able to bring four players from the U-17 team into the U-20 squad.

"I think previously we have been having problems with that but the present NFF is doing everything, most especially the technical director Augustine Eguavoen, he's doing a very nice job about that," Zubairu added. 

"That was why we had about four players from the U17 in the present U20."

Adeyemi Adewale

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