Ladan Bosso, Head coach of Nigeria’s national Under-20 men’s foosball team, the Flying Eagles, has assured of a good outing for the team at the WAFU B U-20 championship in Niamey, Niger Republic.
Boss gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja after the team engaged in two friendly matches against City FC of Abuja and Real Sapphire FC of Lagos, winning 4-0 against City and drawing 0-0 with Sapphire.
Bosso said despite the late preparation, the team was improving tactically with each friendly match played.
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He said about 30 players had been selected for the final phase of preparation, as the team planned to leave for Niamey on Thursday.
“I think the team is improving every day, we have selected about 30 players for the final phase of our preparations and this will be held in Niamey where we hope to have complete concentration.
“We plan to have more blending and bonding in Niamey, as the tournament is fast approaching,” he said.
The team had on Saturday played two friendlies, winning 4-2 against Cosmos FC of Abuja and 4-0 against Basira FC of Nasarawa.
The biannual WAFU tournament, which serves as qualification for the U-20 AFCON in Egypt, 2023, would hold from May 7 to May 20.
The Flying Eagles, seven-time African champions, are in Group B alongside perennial rivals Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Hosts Niger Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin Republic will battle in Group A.
The top two teams from each group will progress to the semifinals of the competition and only the two finalists would qualify for Egypt.
In related development the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) on Tuesday announced the appointment of its former National Team captain; Azeez Ladipo as General Manager (GM) for the federation.
The announcement was made available to newsmen in a statement issued in Lagos.
According to the federation, Ladipo will be responsible for Nigeria Rugby’s strategic plan and implementation of policy decisions.
It said that he will also work with the Technical Department for the development of schools, men’s and women’s game, training and education.
Ladipo will also be in charge of increasing the teams participation in the league and contribute to the general high-performance strategy of rugby players across the country.
“Ladipo is a thoroughbred Nigeria rugby player who grew up playing Rugby at U14 level in Lagos Rugby Club under the tutelage of Sir Martin Crawford, Yinka Marinho and Tunde Akerele amongst others, according to the statement.
“He later rose through the ranks and made his national team debut as a teenager during the 2005 Rugby World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon in Lagos and against Senegal in Dakar.
“He joined Racing Rugby Club in 2005 and later joined Cowrie Rugby Club in 2009 before a brief stint with Chicago Blaze Rugby Club in the USA.
“He is the longest serving National team 7s & 15s captain and one of the most decorated Nigerian Rugby players of all time having won the Super 16 Championship for Nigeria in 2006 where he kicked in 12 points in the final helping Nigeria defeat a spirited host team Togo 12 – 11.
“He is also the Dubai Sevens plate winner, 8 Lagos League Championship, 1 National League championship, 6 Independence sevens winner, National Sports festival multiple gold medalist amongst others”, the statement said.
Speaking on his appointment, Ladipo said he was very excited to take up this position.
He thanked the NRFF Board members led by Dr Ademola Are for this role.
Also speaking on the appointment, NRFF president, Dr Ademola Are reiterated his commitment to ensuring the best structure is put in place for Nigeria rugby to thrive.
He noted that more modalities would be put in place to put smiles on the faces of rugby players in the country, saying that grassroots development of the game must be achieved.
