SAN FRANCISCO, January 04, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Under-17 national football team, the Golden Eaglets have arrived in Lome, the Togolese capital, for the West African Football Union (WAFU B) U-17 Tournament taking place between January 5th – 20th.
Led by current Chief Technical Officer of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and ex-Super Eagles midfielder , Garba Lawal, Nigeria’s contingent comprising officials and players, landed at the new Aéroport International Gnassingbé Eyadéma at about 10.48 a:m local time.
Requisite Coronavirus tests conducted on the contingent before leaving Nigeria all returned negative. Having cleared checks at arrival, the team retired to their lodgings at Hotel Novela Star on the outskirts of Lome. They lunched together before engaging in some light training and workout at the beach to shake off the effects of jet lag.
The Eaglets, who are five-time U-17 world champions, will contend against the Junior Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in their first fixture of the competition. Eaglets head coach Fatai Amoo understands the threat they face adequately.
“We wanted the players to shake off the travel stress and get their bodies physically conditioned for the task ahead against Ivory Coast and the focus is to win the game,” Amoo said of his charges in Lome after the team’s first light workout.
“We want Nigerians here in Togo and back home to support the team. The players are determined, very eager to learn and we hope for a favourable result against Ivory Coast on Wednesday,” he said.
Host nation, Togo will play Niger on Tuesday in the opening game of the West Africa regional qualifying tournament, ahead of the Eaglets match the following day.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
