The Flying Eagles’ Head Coach, Manu Garba, on Friday in Abuja said there was no automatic shirt for Manchester City FC forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, in the national under-20 male football team.
Garba told the News Agency of Nigeria that Iheanacho would not just walk into the team’s starting line-up in spite of his recent displays for the English Premier League champions.
NAN recalls that Iheanacho scored to crown a superb Manchester City debut in a 4-1 pre-season win over Sporting Kansas City in the US on July 24.
Garba acknowledged that the player, who was the Most Valuable Player at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, was good enough to feature for the biggest club in the world.
But he insisted however that the player was not guaranteed a place in his team when they play Lesotho in a two-leg 2015 African Youth Championship final round qualifier.
He said: “Iheanacho does not have an automatic shirt in my team.
“He has to come and prove himself in training before I can pick him.
“Besides, there are equally other talented strikers in my team like Alhassan Ibrahim, Taiwo Awoniyi, Suleiman Abdullahi and Wasiu Jimoh, who scored four goals on Thursday during our friendly game.
“So, it will always be the best that will make my team.”
NAN reports that Jimoh had scored four goals as the Flying Eagles thumped Amakson Soccer Academy 7-1 in a test match played preparatory to the team’s first leg game against Lesotho.
The team will host Lesotho on August 16 in Kaduna, with the reverse tie in Maseru two weeks later.
The overall winners of this match-up will automatically qualify for the 2015 AYC in Senegal in March.
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