Cup holders Nigeria know they must attain a different shape and be at their very best when they confront the Young Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday if they are not to exit this year’s WAFU B U20 Championship at the group stage.

The seven-time African champions fell by a lone goal to Burkina Faso’s Young Etalons on Friday and their route to the last four has been made tougher by the Etalons’ lone-goal reverse against the Elephants two days ago.

The intricacies of a three-team group have fully come to the fore, with each team having to play only two matches, and a single loss meaning that a team could be on the way out of a tournament.

With the Ivorians and the Burkinabes tied at the top of the pile, Nigeria must win by two clear goals against the Ivorians to be sure of a place in the semi-finals, and the opportunity to keep pushing to defend her crown.

President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, who watched the Flying Eagles lose to a second-half goal on Friday, expressed hope that the team re-invents itself and delivers the goods against the Ivorians.

“I am not happy about the result. We expected a win and the three points, particularly as they are in a three-team group which can be delicate. However, I believe the coaches and the players will sit up and come up with a strategy to overcome the Ivorians.

“Nigerians are expecting so much from the team. As defending champions, it will not be good for us not to qualify for the U20 AFCON, having reached the quarter-finals at the FIFA World Cup last year.”

Thursday’s encounter at the Municipal Stadium, Lome will commence at 4pm Nigeria time.

Head Coach Aliyu Zubair has selected talented midfielder Nasiru Salihu and forward Charles Agada among a list of 20 players to fly Nigeria’s flag at the WAFU B U20 Championship kicking off in Lome, Togo on Thursday. The championship is a qualifying tournament for next year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations.

The contingent of 20 players and 12 officials arrived in Lome on Tuesday afternoon, following an intensive, one-week final camping programme at the high-grade Remo Stars Training Complex in Ikenne, Ogun State.

Proprietor of the institute and president of Nigeria Premier Football League club Remo Stars, Hon. Kunle Soname has promised the Flying Eagles the sum of N5 million if the Cup holders successfully defend their title in Togo and return the trophy home. He also gave the team the sum of N1 million on departure from the institute on Monday.

The Flying Eagles won the last edition of the competition staged in Niamey, capital of Niger Republic. They will take on their counterparts from Burkina Faso on Friday, in their first match of the competition, and will also play Cote d’Ivoire in a three-team Group B, with the two best teams to reach the semi finals.

Group A has hosts Togo, Ghana, Niger Republic and Benin Republic.

FLYING EAGLES FOR 2024 WAFU B U20 CHAMPIONSHIP

Goalkeepers: Ifeanyi Harcourt (Sporting Lagos); Nathaniel Nwosu (Nasarawa United)

Defenders: Adamu Maigari (El-Kanemi Warriors); Daniel Bameyi (Bayelsa United); Kenneth Igboke (Enugu Rangers); Haruna Aliyu (Doma United); Musa Ademu (Wireless FC); Olalekan Alabi (El-Kanemi Warriors)

Midfielders: Raphael Oyebanjo (Shuffle Select FC); Muhammad Ibrahim (Niger Tornadoes); Oluwaseyi Akinfenwa (Real Sapphire FC); Ibrahim Abdullahi (Bayelsa United); Isaac Ayuma (NK Istra, Croatia); Nasiru Salihu (El-Kanemi Warriors)

Forwards: Divine Oliseh (Forster FC); Charles Agada (Mavlon FC); Kparobo Arierhi (Beyond Limits FC); Olalekan Amole (Real Sapphire FC); Olalekan Ibrahim (Central Academy); Clinton Jephta (Enyimba FC)

Two goals by Opeyemi Ajakaye and one by Flourish Sebastine steered Nigeria’s U20 girls past their Burkinabe counterparts in the final Group B match of the ongoing WAFU B U20 Women Tournament in Kumasi, Ghana on Sunday.

Ajakaye, who was top scorer for the U17 girls, Flamingos in their qualification campaign for last year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, took her tally for the tournament in Ghana’s second city to six with well-taken strikes in the 10^th and 60^th minutes of the match.

Sebastine, a key player in the Falconets’ squad that reached the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup quarter-finals in Costa Rica last year, added the third with three minutes to the end at the Baba Yara Stadium.

The result merely confirms Nigeria’s leadership of the pool, as the Falconets had already qualified for the semi finals following the 7-0 defeat of Niger Republic and 6-0 hammering of Togo earlier in the tourney.

The victory took the Falconets’ tally to 16 goals in three matches without conceding any. They will confront the runner-up of Group A in the second semi-finals slated for the Baba Yara Stadium by 6.30pm on Wednesday.