Nigeria U20 head, Aliyu Zubair, has stressed the importance of getting a good result in the first game as they kick off their FIFA U20 World Cup campaign against Norway on Monday, www.aclsports.com reports.
Nigeria, who have been placed in group F alongside Saudi Arabia and Colombia, will begin the 24th U20 World Cup tournament against the Norwegians on Monday night at Estadio Fiscal de Talca, Chile.
Speaking ahead of the contest, Zubair stressed the importance of the opening game and confirmed the team is in good shape.
“We are very much prepared. This is our last training before the first match, as you said, in the next 24 hours. In every competition, the first match is very, very important because if you can get the first match right, it’s going to give you more focus, raise the confidence level of the boys, and strengthen our footing in the competition. So we are going to approach tomorrow’s match with all seriousness to make sure that we come out victorious in the first match,” the former Elkanemi Warriors head coach said to the team’s media officer on Sunday.
On the preparation for Monday’s opposition, he said; “Of course, we know our opponents. We’re in a digital world now, and we’ve seen a lot of their matches. We’ve analysed them at the technical crew level and tried to put one or two things we observed into training so that the players will be conversant with what they are likely to face during the match. When it is time for us to talk about the match, we’re going to analyse them better so that the players will have the right mentality on how to approach them.”
Monday’s game between Norway and Nigeria has been scheduled to kick off by 9pm (Nigerian time).
