Everything Flying Eagles Coach Said About U20 AFCON Draw

Flying Eagles head coach Aliyu Zubairu has shared his thoughts on Nigeria’s group opponents at the upcoming 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), showing confidence in his team’s ability to face any challenge.

Nigeria were recently drawn into Group B, where they will face Tunisia, Morocco, and Kenya. With two strong North African teams in the mix, many fans and analysts have described it as another “Group of Death”. But Coach Zubairu isn’t worried.

“I think it is high time we stop looking at some teams as bigger and others as smaller,” he told Soccernet.ng.
“There are no small teams in Africa anymore — what matters is your level of preparation.”

He added that people made the same comments after the first draw, which had Nigeria placed alongside Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco.

“Then, we said it was a group of death. Now, there’s a new draw with Tunisia, Kenya, and Morocco again, and we are still calling it tough. Which country do we want to face that isn’t strong? The real question is: how well have we prepared?”

Coach Zubairu recently led the Flying Eagles through a three-week training camp in Katsina and is pleased with the team’s progress.

“From what we saw in Katsina, the team has improved a lot — we are blending well and taking a more advanced approach to matches.”

When asked about the challenge of playing two North African teams, Zubairu didn’t reveal his tactics:

“How we plan to play against the North Africans is for the team alone to know.”

Despite the expectations that come with managing Nigeria’s U-20 team, the coach says he feels no pressure.

“There is no pressure at all. Our only focus is to reach our first goal — to qualify for the U-20 World Cup.”

And on whether fans should expect anything special tactically, Coach Zubairu gave a confident but mysterious reply:

“Of course there are [tactical surprises], but I wouldn’t want to let the cat out of the bag.”

The 2025 U-20 AFCON will be held in Egypt from 27th April to 18th May. The Flying Eagles will now continue their final preparations ahead of the tournament.