Nigeria not superior, Senegal coach insists

Senegal U-20 national team coach, Joseph Koto, has said the Nigeria U-20 team were not superior to his team despite losing twice to the Flying Eagles at the 2015 African Youth Championship which was concluded in Dakar on Sunday.

The Flying Eagles beat the Junior Teranga Lions 1-0 in the AYC final at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium to win their seventh African title, but Koto believed his team also played well to deserve victory.

“I am very satisfied with the performance of my team. They played very well and were exceptional because from the start till the end, our presence was felt,” Koto said on CAF website.

“We fluffed a lot of goal scoring opportunities. Our performance showed that Nigeria is not superior to us and I believe we won’t disgrace ourselves at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. We will give the players about 10-days rest and after begin preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.”

Senegal will play at the New Zealand 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Group D along with Mexico, Uruguay and Serbia, while African champions, Nigeria, will play in Group E along with Brazil, North Korea and Hungary.

Meanwhile, Nigeria coach, Manu Garba, has said winning the AYC as a player and a coach is one of the happiest things to happen to him.

“I feel elated and great. I was part of the team that won the same competition in 1983 as a player and I’m happy to win it as a coach,” Garba said on CAF website.

“This team is the future of Nigerian football. We have only two players from the Nigeria Premier League with the rest from academies, which is a good sign for the development of Nigerian football.”