ByIme Bassey
Following Flying Eagles 0-2 defeat to their Portuguese counterpart in the Copa de la Republica in Panama City mid-week, Sharks of Port Harcourt assistant coach, Imama Amapakabor has said that Nigerians' expectation of victory in pre-tournament games is not good.
The former Golden Eaglets goalkeeper said Coach John Obuh is experimenting his tactics ahead of the showpiece in Columbia, stressing that the exposure gotten by the players will be a great gain at the competition proper.
"The games played are just preparation for the tournament itself. The problem with our country is that we always want to win every game when we are preparing for major tournaments. We fail to understand that, winning in pre-tournament matches doesn't matter but winning at the tournament proper.
"In preparing for a tournament, coaches will always experiment ideas they might want to use in the course of the tournament. For us now, the gain of these pre-tournament matches is the exposure the players have gotten," Amapakabor said.
On the team itself and the issue of injury to few of the key players, the China '85 U-17 World Cup winner said, "it is only 5 percent of the entire team that actually goes into a competition. There will definitely be injuries to one or two players in the team. The truth of the matter is that, there will be an array of reserves that will complement the starting eleven.
"These always come to bear when the competition starts as one or two players will be a super-sub that delights the coach's heart and that of the fans. It happened in the last U-17 World Cup which we hosted. Sani Emmanuel came from the bench to be the toast of the tournament. I know they will arrive Colombia very prepared for the tournament given what they have shown in the pre-tournament games," he added.
Vanguard
l agree with Amapakabor. The pre-tournament game is a good opportunity for John Obuh to test the Flying Eagles, ahead of the FIFA Under-20 World cup tournament, bid to hold in Colombia.
Few games before the tournament proper, would reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the team.