Coach of the Nigeria Under-20 team, Manu Garba, has named a 21-man squad for the 19th African Youth Championship (AYC) in Senegal.
Musa Muhammed, who captained Nigeria’s Under-17 team to a record fourth Fifa World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2013, is joined in the final squad by fellow Golden Eaglets team-mate from that campaign Chidera Ezeh, Taiwo Awoniyi, Akinjide Idowu, Izuchukwu Omego, Abdullahi Alfa and Dele Alampasu.
Tottenham Hotspur youngster Musa Yahaya is ruled out of the tournament through a knee injury, while defender Wilfred Ndidi was not released by his Belgium club Genk.
The Flying Eagles are to play hosts Senegal, DR Congo and Cote D’Ivoire in Group A of the championship, beginning 8 March through 22. Matches will be hosted in the Senegalese cities of Dakar and M’Bour.
All semi-finalists will represent the continent at the 2015 Fifa U-20 World Cup in New Zealand from 30 May to 20 June.
The winner of the AYC finals will join Brazil, Korea DPR and Hungary in Group E of the Fifa U-20 World Cup, while the runners-up, third and fourth best teams are drawn in Groups D, B and C respectively.
Flying Eagles final AYC squad:
Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo, Sunday Alampasu, Olorunleke Ojo
Defenders: Musa Muhamed, Zaharadeen Bello, Izu Omego, Mustapha Abdullahi, Samuel Okon, Abdulganiyu Saheed
Midfielders: Ifeanyi Matthew, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Akinjide Idowu, Obinna Nwobodo, Bernard Bulbwa, Abdullahi Alfa
Strikers: Taiwo Awoniyi, Christian Pyagbara, Abdullahi Ibrahim Alhassan ‘Muazam’, Usman Saleh, Chidera Ezeh, Wasiu Jimoh
