Flying Eagles Seek Korea’s Slump -Obuh’s German Assistant Talks Tough Under-20 national team, Flying Eagles head coach, John Sam Obuh’s German assistant, Jurgen Press has raised the ante of desire and determination for the squad, going into today’s last group match against South Korea at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, with a declaration that anything short of victory would not be good enough. While evaluating Nigeria’s chances of moving ahead in the competition, Press admitted that a draw could still see them qualify as a third-placed loser, but the German soccer tactician insists they need to gain an automatic ticket to the next round. The Flying Eagles are third in the standings with three points from two matches, with Korea second on four points, while Portugal are top also on four points but are widely expected to crush bottom team Cuba, also today, and go through. Second place in Group B will ensure the Flying Eagles stay in Istanbul to take on the runners-up of Group F, which has Uzbekistan, Croatia, Uruguay and New Zealand, an option press believes is best for Obuh’s team. Fortunately, the Flying Eagles have detailed information about their Asian opponents, having watched them at the recent Toulon Tournament in France as well as during their first two games in Turkey. The entire Nigerian squad stayed back to watch the first half of Monday’s pulsating 2-2 draw between Korea and Portugal , in which they noted that the Asians are a very organised team, have great stamina and are mentally strong. Although they barely scraped a 2-1 win over Cuba in their opening game in Turkey, the Koreans stepped up their game against two-time champions Portugal in their next game to earn a pulsating draw. Coach Obuh’s defence will, therefore, face a major test today (starting at 3pm Nigeria time), as they will come face-to-face with a well-oiled attack led by Hyun Kim and Seungwoo Ryu. Both Kim and Ryu were on target in the surprise draw with Portugal and will again fancy their chances against the six-time African champions. With all that in mind, Press admits it is a battle for second place in the group between Nigeria and Korea, while stressing that the target going into today’s game is to go all out for victory. “We have to beat South Korea. We don’t want to subject ourselves to the lottery of finishing as one of the four third best teams going into the next round,” he submitted.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 17:40:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015