Sport minister Sunday Dare has been told that the Golden Eaglets will need adequate preparations to qualify for the 2023 Africa Under-17 Championship in Algeria.

“This team you see did not have as much training as expected, but we were able to do our best at the WAFU B and won the tournament,” said Eaglets coach Nduka Ugbade when the minister hosted the team to a reception at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Mr Dare had demanded that the team do more.

But Mr Ugbade said, “I appeal that we begin the campaign for Algeria early, so that by the time we get to Algeria, Nigerians will see something totally different from what they have witnessed in Ghana.”

The minister reminded the coach and the team that they “still have the task of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Under-17 World Cup scheduled for Peru, and it is no mean task.”

The national under-17 male football team won the 2022 WAFU B Under-17 tournament on June 18. They had defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 in the final held in Cape Coast, Ghana. Success in Ghana meant they qualified for the Africa Under-17 Championship in Algeria next year.

“You must be prepared to work harder than you have done. The bigger ticket is to the World Cup in Peru in 2023. You have set the standards high and you cannot lower it. It will be good for you to become continental champions in Algeria next year and then prepare to face the bigger hurdle, which is in Peru,” Mr Dare told the team.

He added, “Since your coach, Nduka Ugbade, lifted the FIFA Under-16 World Cup  in 1985, Nigeria have won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup four times — in 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015. My hope is that you will do it again for Nigeria. Let me repeat, that we are proud of you and we will continue to give you the necessary support that you will need. Stay humble, listen to your coaches and work hard.”

(NAN)