28 June 2011
Flying Eagles ace, Stanley Okoro is keen to see Nigeria avoid Brazil and Argentina at the FIFA U-20 World Championships, which comes up in July in Colombia.
The Nigerians are in pool D of the competition alongside Guatemala, Croatia and Saudi Arabia but may likely come up against the South American nations if they progress to the latter stages of the tournament.
“If there are countries to avoid, Brazil and Argentina are the obvious ones. They have a good record in this competition and have always had good players,” the Almeria starlet explained.
With the South Americans on the path of the Flying Eagles’ progression to the final, Okoro said his mates must be poised to raise their game when the time comes.
“If we want to win the trophy, we must be prepared to beat the best teams. So we (Flying Eagles’ players) must be ready to raise our game if we eventually meet Brazil and Argentina,” he said.
The Flying Eagles are currently in Port Harcourt for their final phase of preparations for the U-20 World Cup.
They begin their campaign in Colombia against Guatemala in Armenia on July 31.
Nigeria is ranked ninth in the all-time list of successful nations in the history of the U-20 World Cup.
The West Africans have never been champions at this level but have been losing finalists on two occasions, 1989 and 2005.
They also finished in third place at the 1985 edition hosted by the then Soviet Union.
AllAfrica – All the Time