Flying Eagles test FIFA Junior World Cup readiness against Bundesliga clubs

The Flying Eagles will play three test matches against the Under-23 teams of German Bundesliga clubs, Hoffenheim, Nurnberg and Freiburg, officials have announced.

The Nigeria U20 team will tackle Hoffenheim U23s on May 12 in Hoffenheim with kick-off time put at 3.00 p.m. local time, which is 4.00 p.m. Nigerian time.

Three days later they will tackle the U-23 team of Nurnberg at their training ground in SudwestPark in Nurnberg by 4.30 p.m.

These two matches will be able to give coach Manu Garba and his assistants the chance to run a final rule over the players they will pick for their final 21-man squad for the World Cup.

Nigeria is expected submit a final squad to FIFA on May 15.

Their final test match is slated for Freiburg against the U23 team of Freiburg on May 19 by 2.30 p.m.

The team are due to fly out to New Zealand via Australia from Germany on May 23.

Meanwhile, Team Captain, Musa Muhammed, has stated that they will not be at the FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand just to make up the numbers.

“Some people, especially outside of Nigeria, might probably think we’ll go there to make up the numbers,” he told sl10.ng.
“But we have a different plan because we are African champions and we are going there as such and the dream is to win the World Cup as well.

“This is something my teammates and I have collectively agreed to work toward and we are not just talking about it, we are working towards it,” he stated.

The 18-year-old also spoke about their group, which has Hungary, North Korea and favourites, Brazil. But he says he is less concerned about facing the Brazilians than he is facing any other team in the competition.

“People talk about Brazil all the time but we also have other countries in our group. So for us it’s not just about Brazil, it’s about playing each game as they come and taking it from there.”