Flying Eagles Will Bounce Back –Manu

Coach to change tactics against Korea
Iheanacho may start from the bench
Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba, has
expressed disappointment over his side’s
loss to Brazil but is confident the
reigning African champions will make it
to the knockout rounds of the ongoing
FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
The Flying Eagles lost 4-2 to Brazil in the
early hours of Monday (Nigerian time) in
a dramatic and hugely entertaining
game at New Plymouth’s Taranaki
Stadium. The Brazilians came from 2-1
down to emerge victorious, and Manu
said: “It’s a huge disappointment.
We carved out the better chances in the
first half and we should have led at the
break. The first 45 minutes reflected
what we’re capable of. We simply made
two mistakes that cost us dearly in the
second period. “All in all, we played our
part in a really great match and I’d like
to congratulate Brazil on their victory;
they’re a very good team.”
Five-time U-20 World Cup winners,
Brazil, went ahead after four minutes
through Gabriel Jesus, but seven minutes
later, following an outrageous Musa
Yahaya through ball, Isaac Success drew
the Flying Eagles back on level terms.
And on 28 minutes, Tottenham Hotspurs
youngster, Yahaya, put Nigeria ahead
with an unstoppable shot from the edge
of the box.But all went wrong for the
Flying Eagles thereafter as the Brazilians
pulled back on level terms before the end
of the half and scored two additional
goals in the second half following two
goalkeeping errors from the Joshua
Enaholo. First, Boschilia, just before the
hour-mark, rammed a low 25-yard shot
that swerved wildly before clipping the
inside of the post on its way in.
Then a calamitous error by Enaholo
gifted Brazil the points, with the
goalkeeper allowing the ball to squirm
through his legs and enabling Judivan to
smash the home from a few centimetres
out. “It was a very disappointing result
but I never expected us to lose so
woefully to Brazil,” continued Manu.
“Two of the goals were goalkeeping
errors and should not happen in such a
competition like the World Cup. Even
their second goal to draw the game level
at 2-2 should not have been allowed by
the defenders.
“We made a lot of mistakes in this game.
But we will win our next two games to
be back in contention in this
tournament.” Those upcoming games
will be against North Korea, on Thursday
morning, and Hungary, three days later.
And there are strong indications that
Manu might revert to playing a single
striker upfront for the game against the
Koreans, who lost 5-1 to Hungary in
their opening game. Manu started the
game against Brazil with two out-and-
out strikers – Success and Taiwo Awoniyi
– with Yahaya and Kelechi Iheanacho
playing behind them, while Ifeanyi
Ifeanyi and Ifeanyi Matthew operated
from the middle of the park.
A source in the Flying Eagles’ camp in
New Zealand however informed New
Telegraph that Manu plans to sacrifice
either Success or Awoniyi for the game
against the Koreans in order to fortify
the team’s midfield and provide more
cover for the defence and goalkeeping
position. Enaholo is also likely to start
from the bench against the Koreans with
one of either Dele Alampasu or Ojo
Olorunleke taking the place of the MFM
goalkeeper.