Manu: I’m still hunting for players

Despite recording outstanding victories in various friendly matches in recent times, Flying Eagles head coach Garba Manu at the weekend declared that he is still hunting for more players who could fit into his plans ahead of African Youths Qualifiers (AYC) qualifier.

Nigeria’s U-20 side will be away to face either Kenya or Tanzania in the next stage of AYC on May 9. As it stands, Kenya and Tanzania played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their encounter in Nairobi.

Even though the team comprises of most players who featured at last year’s U-17 World Youth Championship, Manu who was at old Parade Ground to watch a National League game between TEAP and Supreme Court FC, told Blueprint Sport that his technical crew would still take any outstanding player from the various Nigerian leagues.

According to him, “My team is gaining confidence day by day. The foreign-based players who just joined the team are still trying to integrate with those who are in camp.

“Not minding the fact that we conducted a three week screening before, I and other coaches are still scouting for any outstanding players from both pro and amateur Nigerian leagues. Our screening programme is a continuous process until after the World Cup. Though Nigeria has abundance of talents, we can still find a player or more who can help strengthen our team.”

On Saturday, striker Alhassan Ibrahim popularly known as Muazam struck thrice when the Flying Eagles defeated Nigeria Nationwide side Dabo Babes of Kano 4 – 0 in a friendly in Abuja.