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| Coach Stephen Keshi addressing the home-based Eagles players |
Shehu Abdullahi who stars for Kano Pillars said on Monday through the team Media Officer that their target now was to win the trophy.
He said, “Tell Nigerians that they have not seen anything yet. We are here for nothing but the trophy and we have shown that with our game against South Africa, but I must say that is not our best match. The games ahead will show our true qualities.”
The Nigeria U-20 star, who has been described by his injured teammates Benjamin Francis and Ikenna Paul as the heart of the CHAN Eagles, said he was prepared to justify the huge confidence reposed in him by his teammates and the coaches in the remaining games.
The Man-of-the-Match against South Africa, Ejike Uzoenyi, said they were in the event to achieve their target.
“We are here for a goal and we will not relent until we achieve that goal,” the Rangers winger who dedicated his goals and award to his son said.
Former Golden Eaglets goalkeeper Dele Alampasu said the loss against Mali jolted the Eagles to reality and added that there would be no mistakes until the cup is won.
“The same thing happened to us at the U-17 level when we all thought Sweden was a walk-over but when they showed us in our first game. It became a lesson and we did not take our legs off the pedal again until we won the championship; it’s about to happen here again,” he predicted
Eagles will on Saturday play the Atlas Lions of Morocco at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town in the quarter finals. The Moroccans qualified as the leaders of group B in what could be described as a dramatic fashion defeating Uganda 3-1 on Monday.
Morocco went into their final group match with only two points from their first two group matches, their Ugandan opponents needing only a draw to secure passage into the next round having gathered three points before Monday’s match.
The two sides were evenly matched as they both made dangerous incursions into each others territory but the Moroccans got the first goal through Abdesamad Rafik in the 29th minute.
The Ugandans equalised in the 59th minute when Sentamu finished a move he created.
Morocco however, took the lead again in the 77th minute through substitute Mouhsine and ultimately secured the point through Ouadi late in added time to top the group and secure a date with Nigeria who were runners up in group A.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe scored their first goal of the tournament as they defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 to emerge runners up in group B and also booking a place in the quarterfinals against Mali, who topped group A. The Zimbabweans are the only team in the tournament who are yet to concede a goal.
Source: Punch
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