Eagles captain, Ikouwen Udoh, says the team won’t underrate Guinea Bissau, their opponent in the First Round of the Africa U-20 Nations Cup qualifier.
Guinea Bissau held Sierra Leone to a goalless draw at the Bo Stadium on Saturday to book a date with the Flying Eagles having edged the contest 1-0 on aggregate.
“We have been preparing well for the qualifiers and it is good that we now know our first opponent,” the Enyimba left-back told CSN.
“Guinea Bissau are not one of the strong footballing nations in Africa, but we have to give them respect because they deserve it.
“If they can beat Sierra Leone who in my opinion have a better pedigree, then it means we must not joke with them.
“We have to double our effort in training now, and hopefully, we will scale through the hurdle.”
The young Djurtinhos will host the Flying Eagles in the first leg on May 11, 12 or 13 with the return leg to hold in Nigeria a week later.
The Flying Eagles will be hoping to stage a return to the competition after they failed to qualify for the last edition hosted by Zambia.
The final tournament will be hosted by Niger in 2019 with the four semi-finalists qualifying for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.