Photo: Thisday LiveA high-spirited Flying Eagles landed in Germany on Sunday morning after a flight that lasted for six hours from Abuja the previous night.
The African champions that consist of 26 players and 10 officials arrived the Frankfurt Airport at 6am local time, which is an hour ahead of Nigerian time.
The team then drove for three hours to Nurnberg, where they will be for the next three weeks putting final touches to their preparations for the FIFA U20 World Cup taking place in New Zealand.
The team’s morale has been very high with coach Manu Garba once again heaping praises on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for ensuring that his team fly overseas for maximum concentration.
“The NFF have done absolutely well to get us of the country to enable us concentrate fully on the huge task that lies ahead of us and we believe we will justify the confidence of Nigerians in this team,” he said.
The weather is very cold and wet, but goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo said they will adapt.
“It is not as cold as some of us feared. We can adapt to the weather,” said the Giwa FC shot stopper.
Fellow goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo was very happy to make his first trip to Europe.
“I love what I see and I hope I can return to Europe soon to start a professional career,” said the goalkeeper, who was first choice at the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal in March.
According to team officials, players will hit the gym Monday morning as the countdown to the World Cup progresses.
Four other Europe-based players are expected to join the team in Germany. These include Wilfred Ndidi (Genk, Belgium), Isaac Success (Granada, Spain), Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England) and Moses Simon (Gent, Belgium)
All 21 players from the 2015 AYC triumph in Dakar, Senegal, are on the trip to Germany.
Nigeria have until May 15 to submit a final 21-man squad for the World Cup, which kicks off on May 30.
African champions Nigeria are drawn against Brazil, Hungary and North Korea. They will be based in New Plymouth for their first round matches.
Players already in Germany include:
Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo, Sunday Alampasu, Olorunleke Ojo, Adamu Abubakar
Defenders: Bashiru Monsuru, Musa Muhammed, Zaharadeen Bello, Izu Omego, Mustapha Abdullahi, Samuel Okon, Abdulganiyu Saheed
Midfielders: Chidiebere Nwakali, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Ifeanyi Mathew, Akinjide Idowu, Bernard Bulbwa, Abdullahi Alfa, Kingsley Sokari, Musa Yahaya
Strikers: Christian Pyagbara, Saviour Godwin, Abdullahi Ibrahim Alhassan ‘Muazam’, Taiwo Awoniyi, Usman Hassan, Chidera Ezeh, Wasiu Jimoh.
Written by Vocal Geebz for SoccerNet Nigeria
