Nigeria’s U-17 team will arrive in Ghana on Thursday ahead of the commencement of the WAFU Zone B U-17 tournament in Cape Coast.
The two tournament finalists will be at the Africa U17 Cup of Nations in Algeria early next year, from which all four semi-finalists will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup finals in Peru.
Nigeria, with five world titles, and three-time world champions and hosts Ghana will kick off the tournament on Saturday with a potentially explosive match at the Cape Coast Stadium.
Coach Nduka Ugbade, who has been screening and training the lads at the FIFA Goal Project in Abuja for several weeks, says his goal is to earn a ticket to Algeria.
“I am happy with the squad that we have been able to come up with, and I can say confidently that we are going to Ghana to do the nation proud. Our primary objective is to earn a ticket to the Africa Cup of Nations, and then we go full throttle for the trophy. Nigeria have a pedigree in U17 football and we cannot afford to disappoint,” he said.
Ugbade, who captained Nigeria to their first of five world titles at this level, has named 20 players for the campaign, which runs until June 24th, with five more on standby.
The Golden Eaglets are in Group A of the competition, with a second match against Togo.
Nigeria’s squad for the tournament
Goalkeepers: Richard Odoh, Hameed Balogun, Pascal Uzoho
Defenders: Jeremiah Olaleke, Emmanuel Michael, Tochukwu Ogboji, Yahaya Lawal, Miracle Ogwor
Midfielders: Basil Mbata, Ebube Okere, Tochukwu Ogbabido, Richard Uche, Ozor Okeke, Raphael Oyebanjo
Forwards: Umar Abubakar, Kevwe Iyede, Light Eke, Abubakar Abdullahi, Jubril Azeez, Precious Williams
Standby: Utibe Silas, Abdullahi Buhari, Abubakar Shaibu, Tijjani Mohammed, Stephen Emmanuel
