The coach of the Nigeria U20 team Ladan Bosso has picked a pool of 25 players who will be heading to the team’s training camp in Morocco for the final phase of preparation for the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Bosso’s squad is way different from the team that won the WAFU B championship in Niger Republic with the coach bringing in over nine new players to beef up certain areas in the team and also compensate for the absence of some players due to several issues.
OGN picks five new players who are set to play a pivotal role for the team when the tournament begins in Egypt.
1. Adams Olamilekan : A winger turned striker by Bosso. The Remo Stars forward has all it takes to be a big hit at the AFCON. He is strong, moves well and goes into tackles to put the press on defenders. He is always moving to create space for himself making it hard to pin him down. He can also shoot very well with his left foot.
2.Nicholas Jonathan: Drafted in from Kaduna based side Simoiben Football Academy. The left footed playmaker creates goal scoring chances with ease and his bags of tricks makes it easy for him to beat the press with ease. Very comfortable playing behind the main striker and can also score belters as seen in some of their test games.
3. Jude Sunday: Strong, quick and also deadly. He tends to put defenders on the back foot with the way he runs at them directly. The Real Sapphire Academy prospect is one of the latest lieutenants in the Bosso’s squad for the war in Egypt.
4 . Benjamin Fredrick: Probably not really new but set to play a prominent role. Registration issues denied him a chance of getting into the WAFU B championship team but he was part of the enlarged squad. Now a prominent player, the manner with which he slotted into the defence in the win over Zambia led to talks of how well he dovetails nicely with Daniel Bamaiyi. His performance has no doubt put him in pole position to nail a permanent spot in the team.
5. Emmanuel Uchegbu- Plugged from GBS Football Academy of Jos. Left footed, quick, strong and very clinical when he operates from the right. Scored a striker’s goal against Zambia and the manner which he takes up clever position in the box isn’t quite popular. He will no doubt trouble defenses at the AFCON.
Mohammed MowizÂ
