Eaglets Expect Tough Ties In Egypt -As Cadet Team Go For Two Friendlies The under-17 national team, Golden Eaglets are bound to face a run of tough matches in Egypt, as the coordinator of the cadet squad, Prince Udofia believes their hosts will be out to ensure they snatch victory in the forthcoming international friendlies. Although Udofia admitted that the matches in Egypt are mere friendlies, he recounted how the young Pharaohs put up gallant fights in the two matches they lost during their visit to Nigeria and believes they will be all out to make amends on home soil. When both sides first clashed in May, the Eaglets handed a 3-2 and 3-1 defeats to the Junior Pharaohs in Kaduna and the return leg in Cairo will again see both sides do battle twice on Friday, July 4th and Sunday, 6th. The tune-up games are at the instance of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Egypt Football Association (EFA) ahead of their teams’ respective African U-17 Championship qualifiers. The Eaglets were drawn by into the second round of the qualifiers for Niger 2015, while the Junior Pharaohs dispatched Sudan 7-3 on aggregate in the first round. They would respectively meet Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo respectively later this month, ahead of which Nigeria’s squad of 25 players and nine officials arrived Abuja from their base in Calabar on Tuesday en route to Cairo. Before departing Kaduna after the first leg couple of friendlies, Egypts coach, Gamiel Mohammed Ali vowed to pay back Nigeria in their own coins and it remains to be seen how that is plausible on the strength of Eaglets rich vein of form. With that in view, Udofia has warned the Eaglets that they should expect a tough time in the North African nation, as the team get set to play two ties in Cairo. “We are expecting a more difficult game in Cairo. Of course, the Egyptians would want to avenge their last defeats against us but our team has really improved over time. “It is going to be competitive and I think it would be good preparatory matches for our qualifiers against Congo,” Udofia said.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:41:38 +0000