Sani Mohammed, the head coach, National Under 21 Men’s Volleyball team, has urged the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) to keep the present team for future encounters.

Mohammed told journalists on Friday in Abuja that there was a need to keep the team and coaches crew to perform better in subsequent international meets.

“The best thing for the federation is to maintain the team, let them play more friendly matches before they will go for a major tournament,” he said.

The Nigerian team lost to Cameroon 0-3 in the third place to finish the fourth position in the just concluded 2022 African U-21 Men’s Volleyball Championship in Tunisia.

He said the players needed to be kept alongside their coaches to continue working together.

“This year’s championship, we played the semi-final and quarter-finals, and we finished the fourth position.

“There is an improvement in our performance, but this is not what we wanted; our desire was to pick a ticket for the world cup championship,” he said.

Mohammed said he appreciated the president of the federation and the board members’ support.

“They did everything possible to make sure that we were confortable in our stay in Tunis,” he said.

Egypt finished first, Tunisia, the host, finished second, while Cameroon finished third place.

Morocco, Nigeria, Gambia, Egypt, Cameroon, Rwanda, Libya and the host Tunisia participated in the championship.

The 2022 Under-21 Men’s African Volleyball Championship started on August 13 and ended on 23.

(NAN)