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Nigeria will play Senegal in their first match on February 19 at the Cairo International Stadium.
Coach of Nigeria's Flying Eagles Ladan Bosso has boasted that he will be going into 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a better squad than he used in the qualifying tournament in May.
Bosso's 25-man squad to Egypt features seven professionals from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), three Europe-based players, and two impressive players who are currently unattached to any football clubs.
The Flying Eagles will be one of 12 teams to participate in the 24th edition of the U-20 AFCON, scheduled for Egypt between Sunday, February 19 and Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Bosso boasts about squad to U-20 AFCON
Speaking ahead of the 12-team tournament, Bosso stated that - after weeks of preparation in Nigeria's capital Abuja - he is going into the tournament with a stronger side that he used during the regional qualifiers, last May.
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“This is a better team than the one from the qualifying tournament,” the U-20s boss said according to SCORENigeria.
“One of our best players in Niger was Ibrahim Mohammed ‘Ibeji’, but he has not been at his best and such is the depth in the talent of the current team that I could drop him without losing much sleep.
“Or take the case of Lawal Samson, who featured regularly in Niger, but now has to fight for a first-team place.
“Qualifying for the World Cup is the target and anything after that will be a bonus,” he said.
Nigeria drawn into Group A
Having been drawn into Group A of the competition, the Flying will face hosts Egypt, three-time losing finalists Senegal, and Mozambique, in a bid to make the knockout stages of the competition.
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The competition which serves as a qualifier for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, will see the top four performing teams in Egypt, pick up tickets to represent Africa in Indonesia in May.
Nigeria last featured at the 2019 World Cup in Poland, where they reached the Round of 16.
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