Coach of the Nigeria Under-20 side, Manu Garba, has reiterated his team’s resolve at going all the way at the Fifa World Cup in New Zealand.
The Flying Eagles open their campaign against five-time champions Brazil at the 11,000-capacity Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth on Monday.
“We have all it takes to go all the way and take the Cup back to Nigeria,” Manu is quoted as saying on thenff.com.
Nigeria won a record-extending Caf Under-20 Championship in Senegal in March, but have struggled to translate their continental dominance on the world stage only finishing as runners-up on two occasions (1989 & 2005).
New Zealand will mark the Flying Eagles’ fifth successive appearance at the World Youth Championship, yet the closest they have come was a second-placed finish behind Argentina in 2005.
”It is either the Cup or nothing else for Nigeria,” declared Manu, who led the country to win a record fourth FIFA U-17 World Cup two years ago in the United Arab Emirates.
“There is a lot of pressure but we do not allow it to affect us because once we put yourself under pressure, you are most likely to make a lot of mistakes.
“For us, we do not know the word pressure. We do our best and just pray for mother luck.”
The Flying Eagles had a feel of the Stadium Taranaki on Saturday afternoon in a session which lasted for an hour and will have their final training before the Brazil match on Sunday morning by 10am local time.
Nigeria vs Brazil kickoff: 1PM (2AM Nigerian time)
