George Aluo
Spain based Olympic Eagles midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali is confident the team would pick one of Africa’s tickets to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the Egypt 2019 U-23 Nations Cup which runs from November 8-22.
Nwakali who featured prominently during the qualifiers, helping the team to land in Egypt said given the quality of players Coach Imama Amakakpabo has assembled, there is no way the team won’t land in Tokyo for the world’s biggest sports fiesta.
“It was not easy for us to qualify for the U-23 AFCON in Egypt,” midfielder Kelechi Nwakali of Spanish side, SD Huesca, told CAFOnline.com, adding:”We lost both away matches to Libya and Sudan but won convincingly back home; that shows the kind of quality we have as a team. It’s a great feeling for us to secure the ticket to the U-23 AFCON in Egypt. In Egypt, we are going to do well and qualify for the Olympics.”
The work of the Amapakabo–led side is already cut out in Egypt where they are drawn in a seemingly tough Group B complete with their bitter West African rivals Cote d’Ivoire as well as Southern African duo, Zambia and South Africa.
Nigeria will start their campaign on 9 November at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo against Cote d’Ivoire to be followed with the games against Zambia on 12 November and expected crunch match against South Africa on 15 November.
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“None of the three matches against Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia and South Africa is going to be easy because the three teams have rich football pedigree,” explained the talented Nwakali who was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) when he led Nigeria to win a record fifth FIFA U-17 World Cup title in Chile in 2015.
“I believe we can hold our own against them especially if we can bring our best individual qualities together for the team.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s charge for a ticket to Tokyo 2020 would be led this time around by midfielder Azubuike Okechukwu who incidentally captained the team to glory the last term in Senegal.
Currently on loan to Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir from Egyptian club Pyramid FC, the 22-year-old Azubuike is widely regarded as one of the pillars of the team and it remains to be seen if he can lead the Olympic Eagles to glory for the second successive times.
“I was part of last national U-23 team that won the AFCON in Senegal and it was one of the best moments of my career, ” Liverpool loanee Taiwo Awoniyi who scored the opener in the 5-0 win over Sudan in Asaba told CAFOnline.com
“In this current squad, I would pick our captain (Azubuike Okechukwu) as the most influential because he has always shown courage, commitment and has been a good example to the team,” noted Awoniyi currently with Mainz 05 in the German Bundesliga.
Apart from mercurial duo of Nwakali and Okechukwu, Amapakabo would also be counting on the likes of Orji Okwonkwo who recently made the headlines in the USA Major League Soccer (MLS) as Montreal Impact’s Most Outstanding Player of the season; as well as 20-year-old striker Sunday Faleye who impressed at the 2018 Total African Nations Championship where Nigeria finished as runners-up behind hosts Morocco.