Flying Eagles Coach, John Obuh, has said he will demand more of himself and his team after he marked his 53rd birthday on Thursday morning.
Both players and officials sang the traditional birthday song for Obuh at breakfast on Thursday, just hours after the Flying Eagles revived their 2013 AYC hopes with a 1-0 win over a hard-fighting Gabon team.
“I thank God for my life and I wish to do more,” said Obuh.
Llike his close friend, Stephen Keshi, Obuh is celebrating his birthday in the middle of a major tournament.
He added: “I also wish my team will do more in this competition because I know what they are capable of.”
The Flying Eagles missed no less than 13 clear-cut chances against Gabon on Wednesday night and eventually had to settle for skipper Abdulajaleel Ajagun’s 19th minute penalty goal to beat their opponents.
Obuh said: “We have started this tournament rather slowly, but it’s better to start slowly and then go fast than to just crash out.
“As long as we are alive in this competition, we have a great chance of retaining our championship.
“We still have to work a lot on the finishing of the team. We are creating the chances but we are not converting them. For our first two games, we would have won each of them 5-0, but rather we lost one 1-0 and won the other 1-0.
“I believe the problem is mainly psychological. Once we can overcome this problem and start scoring two, three goals in open play, the other teams in this competition could as well forget it.”
Obuh said the main target against DR Congo on Saturday is to qualify for the World Cup in Turkey.
“We first want to qualify for the World Cup by reaching the semi-finals and then we will take it from there,” he said.
The Flying Eagles have now shot to second place on the Group B table with three points, three points behind leaders, Mali, while DR Congo and Gabon are on a point each.
They will march on to Turkey 2013 if they at least draw with DRC on Saturday in their final group game as they enjoy a better head-to-head record against Gabon.
Striker Christian Pyagbara and right fullback Shehu Abdullahi have also celebrated their birthdays leading up to this championship.
Meanwhile, Flying Eagles striker, Olanrewaju Kayod,e will miss Saturday’s AYC final Group B clash against DR Congo after he received his second booking of the competition.
The all-action striker was booked by the Tunisian referee, Youssef Essreyaryi, for ignoring his whistle by putting the ball into the net after he was blown offside. He was also booked in the opening game against Mali.
Though he has yet to find the back of the net, Kayode has been the live wire of the Flying Eagles strike force with his persistence and speed.
The former Asec Mimosas of Abidjan star has impressed several scouts in Algeria for the U20 championship.
His likely replacements are Alhaji Gero, who was the team’s joint leading scorer in the qualifiers with four goals, and Umar Aminu, who plays as a second striker at Wikki Tourists of Bauchi.
Defending champions Nigeria need only a draw against DRC on Saturday afternoon in Oran to reach the semi-finals of the tournament and qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup in Turkey in June.
With a draw, they will top closest rivals Gabon on the head-to-head rule having beaten them 1-0 on Wednesday even if the Junior Panthers get a cricket score in their final group game against group leaders Mali.
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