Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba is targeting all three points when his team face Brazil in their opening game of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup starting in New Zealand May 30. The Flying Eagles have a poor record against South American countries in the tournament, but Garba stated that this will not be the case when they play Brazil in the Group E pairings on June 1.

Manu Garba

“I respect all the teams who have qualified for this championship and that includes Brazil, who have been good at this level, but believe you me, Brazil is Brazil and Nigeria is Nigeria,” he began. Brazil have won the World Cup several times, but Nigeria have got silver twice and a bronze.

“At U17 level, we are rated No.1 in the world. And half of the team to New Zealand are from the last U17 team. We are a united team who have conquered the world at U17 level and we have now been joined by other players who are more technically balanced than some of them from the U17s. So, I believe we are ready to take on any team. “But I also know that the first match in any tournament is the most important and so we will do all we can to pick up the maximum three points against Brazil, which will go a long way to motivate the team in subsequent matches.

He continued: “I could recall Mexico came to last U17 World Cup as defending champions and they had not lost a match for two years. But against a Nigerian side, who did not play a test game for a month, we defeated them 6-1.

“This is not to say we will be overconfident. We are confident in ourselves to beat Brazil in our opening game.”