Flying Eagles head coach Aliyu Zubairu has downplayed the traditional Nigeria-Ghana rivalry ahead of Thursday’s opening match of the 2025 WAFU Zone B U20 Championship.
Nigeria, the defending champions of the WAFU U20 tournament, face hosts Ghana at the Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, in a Group A opener that has generated buzz across West Africa.
However, Zubairu insists the hype around the fixture will not distract his team from their longer-term goal.
“We don’t have any advantage over Ghana at all. Honestly, that’s not why we are here,” the Ex El-Kanemi Warriors coach said.
Flying Eagles coach Aliyu Zubairu. Photo Credit: X
“We just want to know the level of our team and begin to organise ourselves for the World Cup.”
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Zubairu revealed that the WAFU tournament was not originally part of the Flying Eagles’ World Cup roadmap but presents a useful opportunity to assess players under competitive conditions.
“For me, this tournament has come for Nigeria. It offers us a good platform to prepare for the World Cup and that is what is important to us.”
Flying Eagles of Nigeria (Photo credit: DagaShotz)
The Flying Eagles only resumed camp a week before the tournament, a fact Zubairu acknowledged, but he remains optimistic about their preparedness.
“We reconvened just a week ago because it wasn’t the planned time for us to regroup, but we had to quickly reorganise. We’re ready.”
While the match marks a repeat of the 2022 WAFU final, which Nigeria won, Zubairu was quick to deflect talk of revenge or rivalry as key motivation.
“We know the history between Ghana and Nigeria, and it has always been like that at whatever level.
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Even in community football, it’s always attractive because of the clean rivalry.”
Still, he stressed that the Flying Eagles are in Ghana with a clear vision: build momentum and chemistry ahead of their campaign at the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile.
“This is just part of the bigger process. Our eyes are on the global stage.”
