Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba in a chat to Nigeria's U20 media officer, Sam Audu spoke about his team’s chances at the U20 World Cup, his fears as well as his expectations leading up to New Zealand 2015
QUESTION: How was the training camp in Nurnberg, Germany?
MANU: It has been a very good training site, there are no distractions. So, it has been very good for our preparations for the World Cup.
You beat Hoffenheim U23, Nurnberg U19 and SC Freiburg U23 in all three training matches you played in Germany. What is your own assessment of the team’s performances in these games? Did it bring out the best in your team?
I can say the first game against Hoffenheim was very, very competitive as they are a good side. I would say I was very impressed with the way the boys played as they were playing together after a long time.
I was happy with the way they played, the way they kept the ball and they scored five fantastic goals despite the fact that we had a few mistakes especially in our recovery and failing to convert some chances. These are some of the things we are now trying to address before the World Cup.
The second game we played was better than the first, although the opposition was not as stiff as that of the first game.
But we were able to perfect all our movements in that game. We scored some fantastic goals again and there was an improvement in the ball circulation.
Taiwo Awoniyi played 35 minutes in the first game and 45 minutes in the second game and he scored six goals.
This means we are getting there attack wise, but we still need to work on our defence. This is where we need to work on before the World Cup kicks off.
The match against Freiburg was our best game because we created so many chances even though we failed to convert most of them.
What exactly do you need to work on in the defence?
The mental speed of the players – they do recover in good time, but they often fail to do the marking when it matters most, to close up on the opposition.
But I believe before the World Cup, the defence will be a lot tighter because we will surely work on those areas. This is the major weakness of this team.
You have announced your final 21-man squad for the World Cup. Are you satisfied with your selection?
I am very, very satisfied because it has been very, very tough getting to this final squad. If you look at players like Abdullahi Alfa, who played every minute at the last World Cup, is out of the team, so too Samuel Okon, Muazam (Alhassan Ibrahim), who has been on good form lately.
But above all, I will beat my chest any day to say that this was the best team we selected from this set of players. This is because we took the selection departmentally.
The midfield is the main strength of this team but with the inclusion of Isaac Success, Kelechi Iheanacho and Moses Simon, the attack will be very, very deadly. It will be difficult to get an attack that will be as deadly as that of Nigeria.
So, coupled with the compactness and strength of the midfield, I believe this is a very good squad and we just need prayers for the boys to win every match at the World Cup. That’s our aspiration.
We’re not just aiming at the cup, but we want to win every match and by so doing, the cup will be ours. We don’t want to toy with any match.
This is not to say that all the other teams in New Zealand do not have a chance of winning the tournament. But we are very, very optimistic that as African champions and with the strength in depth in this team, we’re much stronger than the team who played at the African Youth Championship in Senegal.
How much stronger?
A player like Kingsley Sokari was not there (in Senegal), a player like Iheanacho was not there, a player like Success was not there, Moses was not there, Wilfred Ndidi was not there and Nwakali wasn’t there.
These are players who can play for any team any day once they are fit.
The team are much stronger than that at the AYC.
I believe many people will be working with the team they saw at the AYC, but they will be surprised to see different players, who are much better in terms of technique and exposure.
When they pick up, this team will be unstoppable throughout the championship.
You have been quoted as saying that if you don’t make it to my training camp, you are out of my final squad. But we see Success, Iheanacho and Moses Simon were not in Germany, yet they will be New Zealand for the World Cup.
I said that because the players who have been training with us understand our philosophy and have undergone all the trainings, but you can’t take away anything from Success, who is playing for a club like Granada and he is injury free and doing well.
Moses is the most important player at Belgian club Gent. Kelechi has been on superb form. He is one player who can be relied upon if he is free of injury and I believe he has recovered from that injury.
I believe their inclusion in the team will go a long way in adding more strength to the team.
We are also not saying these players will come in automatically to the first team, they will be coming in gradually for them to find a synergy with the other players.
The fear of some is that these players have not been with the squad for many months and so they will not be able to blend with the group quickly. Do you share such fear?
No. I don’t have any fear because these players have been with us. Even Moses Simon was with us in the early part of the U17 team before he went on to play for the U20 team. He may not know our philosophy, but for Kelechi and Success, they know how we play right from the U17s. Kelechi even played the qualifiers.
All the same, it will not be difficult for Moses because he played in the same academy in Kaduna with Musa Yahaya and he is a striker who knows when and how to move. It will be easy for him to adapt.
We have two, three training sessions together (in New Zealand) and they will again know how we play and what we want them to contribute to the team.
Two, three trainings will be enough for them to blend?
They are all coming from competition and so you can’t fault their fitness level.
I am more about them integrating with the rest of the team.
The language of the game is simple – If you have the ball, before you release it, you have to look up and see the movement of your player. If the other player has the ball, you have to move to a vital space to receive the ball.
I believe getting that cohesion will not be very difficult because two of them, Kelechi and Success, have been with this team, while Moses will adapt very quickly.
We will sit them down to show them what we expect them to do. I believe they will adapt because they are young players and very, very intelligent.
They will not get into the team in the very first match, they will sit on the bench and observe and whenever we need them, they will come on to do the damage.
To be concluded
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