NIGERIA’S U-20 goalkeeper Dele Alampasu has tipped his side to emerge victorious at the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal if they imbibe the spirit of hard work.
The competition billed for the francophone west African nation will be used to select Africa’s four representatives to the 2015 Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand.
In a chat with Goal, the former Golden Eaglets star expressed his delight getting an invite to play for the Flying Eagles while insisting that other players in camp are eager to make the country proud.
“Being a part of the Flying Eagles squad is a big motivation for me and we are already looking forward to a successful outing at the 2015 African Youth Championship,” Alampasu told Goal.
“The relationship is very cordial in camp and we are like one family. Infact, you can’t differentiate between the players drafted from the Golden Eaglets squad and the new faces on ground. Everything is fine.”
Garba Manu’s lads will face hosts Senegal, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire in Group A and the goalkeeper feels that with better preparation and hard work, no team will splinter Nigeria’s dream to emerge as winners.
“We leave the competition in the hands of God, but most importantly we must work very hard towards achieving our goal.
“No teams scare us. It is going to be a battle between two teams of eleven players each. All we need to do is to work very hard, intensify our preparations and we will come out tops,” he concluded.
The opening game of the 19th edition of the biennial championship will see hosts Senegal squaring Nigeria at the Leopold Senghor Stadium in Dakar on 8 March 2015.
