Flying Eagles captain Ikouwem Utin insists the side have what it takes to beat Senegal in today’s Round of 16 encounter at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland.
Nigeria were beaten 2-0 when they met the Senegalese in the final of the Wafu U20 Cup of Nations in December 2018, but Utin who is the skipper of the team opined that they would use the experience they garnered from their previous encounter to nail their fellow West African opponents on Monday.
“Senegal have shown that they are a good side in this competition,” Utin stated ahead of the game.
“We saw them at the U20 Afcon in Niger and in the Wafu U20 tournament in Togo. This is a different ball game and the mentality now against them is that we must win.
“We know it is the only result we must be on the lookout for to qualify for the next round.”
The Enyimba defender expressed delight at Flying Eagles’ qualification for the second round of the competition after their slip up against the United States.
He reckoned that their positive result against Ukraine will motivate them to do well in Poland.
“I am very happy that we got the result that qualified us for the next round of the competition and we are grateful to God for it,” he added.
“I want to thank our fans and supporters that believe in us. I want to assure Nigerians that we can do it, no matter the fact that we were beaten against the United States. I believe that this game will motivate us to go all out in our next game to ensure that we move closer to our objective of winning the competition.
“We went into the game with the right mentality. We wanted to win to show all that the loss against the United States was just a one-off.
“I am happy with the way my teammates approached the game. They played with the right aggression and I must also thank the coaches too for the right tactics we adopted.”
12 Comments
Good talk capt. Please less talk and more action on the field tonite. Wish you guys best of luck.
Best of luck guy,but the senegalese have been very good right from the start of this tournament, you guys need to double your effort, and play with the Nigerian spirit, for you to be able to subdue them …..All the same, I still still believe in the team. Good luck.
My friend shut up and go and play ur game,a team that is better than ur side dat u are making noise to,
God Is Your Strenth Guys
Here comes utin.in him there is so much ado about nothing.always looking business like with snappy handshakes and a make belief sense of urgency.all these fizzle out with one dimensional play and terrible shots from a wishful thinker.To imagine he is truly almost thirty and above is appalling. For patriotism though,i wish them victory otherwise utin is really nothing to write home about as a footballer
Senegal will most likely win, not because I want them to, but because they are a better side.
However, I am cheering our boys (who don’t seem to care about the feelings of the fans) with the hope that my prediction does not come true!
Bomboy,
How are you? Longest time. I reached out to you the other week. Hope you are OK.
Hopefully, the Flying Eagles will come out on top tonight.
Thanks deo. You are a great Pal.
Yes, after watching highlights of Italy vs Poland, I realise our boys are not far off.
Really do hope we win.
I thought dey are good . I now no better. Be4 be4 senegal with full strength. Den go chop am . But now it like no player can do d magic . Only running helter-skelter on d field.
“I believe that this game will motivate us to go all out in our next game to ensure that we move closer to our objective of winning the competition.
“We went into the game with the right mentality. We wanted to win to show all that the loss against the United States was just a one-off.” Flying Eagles captain Utin.
It will indeed be interesting to see whether or not the defeat against USA was a “one off”.
Though I don’t trust the coaching staffs to put this game in the bag, but is doable if the coach plays 3 5 2.
Nigeria is winning dat match…
drey and China, try to repost dis comment…….