From George Aluo, Praia
Head Coach of Restoration Starlets, Teibowei Diepreye, is confident his team would make history in Cape Verde by winning the maiden edition of the Africa Youth Cup.
Diepreye who spoke exclusively to The Nigerian Xpress Sports before the team, nicknamed “The Dickson Boys”, jetted out of the country said his boys were mentally and psychologically prepared for the tournament.
“These boys are all excited and rearing to go. For them this is a wonderful opportunity to show case their talents to the world. They are happy the governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson is sponsoring them to the tournament and the only way to say thank you to him is to go out there, win and present him with the cup. We had over one week of close camping and that has put the boys in good shape,” Diepreye stated.
READ ALSO: Speakership: The odds against Gbajabiamila
Diepreye stressed that the presence of the youth teams of top clubs like Benfica of Portugal and Daraja FC of Cote D’Ivoire is nothing to worry about as Nigerian teams have always excelled in youth tournaments.
“We are going into the tournament with the history of the performance of Nigerian youth teams in CAF and FIFA competitions in mind. We want to make history by winning the maiden edition of the Africa Youth Cup,” Diepreye said.
The Africa Youth Cup is attracting youth teams from different parts of the world and the organizers say it is Africa’s response to similar tournaments in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
“We believe it is time for the world to come to Africa for International Youth Football Festival which is the symbol of this tournament,” the organizers stated.
The tournament runs from April 19-27 in the cities of Praia and Sao Domingos on the Island of Santiago
