SL10 reporter Abayomi Ademetan is upbeat about Flying Eagles' chances going into the African Youth Championships semi-final clash against Ghana U20.
The Flying Eagles will be coming up against their West African rivals on Wednesday for a place in the finals of this year’s tournament being staged in Senegal.
Sellas Tetteh's team go into Wednesday’s clash as the underdogs as they come up against a team that is yet to suffer a defeat at the tournament and has scored as many as nine goals already in the group.
Here are five reasons why Flying Eagles fans would smile at the end of the game as compiled by SL10 reporter Abayomi Ademetan.
GOOD RECORD
It's on record that the Flying Eagles of Nigeria last clashed with the Black Satellites of Ghana in an African Youth Championship match in 2011, when the team won 2-1.
The two teams recently played tune-up matches, with the Nigerian side being forced to a 2-2 and winning the second encounter 2-0.
Nigeria's past results against Ghana have been convincing, and for Flying Eagles fans out there, there are reasons to be hopeful.
CONFIDENCE
The Flying Eagles finished tops in Group A with seven points, They won 3-1 in their opening match against Senegal, followed up with a resounding 4-1 victory over Congo, before forcing Cote D'Ivoire to a 2-2 draw. The results has given real confidence to the players, as well as the fans.
Though the team struggled a bit in the final group match against CIV, but It could be argued that some players likely to start against Ghana were actually playing against CIV, but that means nothing.
The elation portrayed by Manu Garba after the group stage and the boost that the players must be feeling will surely spread to the whole set-up and a fit squad to choose from will add belief to the fans.
QUALITY GOALSCORERS
The Flying Eagles averaged three goals per match in the first round matches and score goals at ease. The trio of Musa Mohammed (3 goals), Taiwo Awoniyi (3 goals) and Ifeanyi Matthew (2 goals) have netted 8 goals between themselves, while Christian Pyagbara scored once in his only appearance for the team against Cote D'Ivoire.
IMPACT OF PYAGBARA
The Dolphins striker sat out the first two games and showed quality in the final group match against Cote D'Ivoire. He scored and should be a positive inclusion on Wednesday.
INFLUENCE OF AWONIYI AND MOHAMMED
We all saw it during the group matches. The duo were simply world class with their contribution to the progress of the team.
Team skipper Mohammed has led by example and his quality has never been in doubt. The team must always exploit his overlapping runs to trouble the Black Satellites.
Awoniyi's touch, vision, dribbling, control and finishing is amazing. He is a pure talent and a phobia to defenders. And he is ours. If we take full advantage of the midfield, over a Ghana midfield that leaves a lot to be desired, it could be the edge that would win us the game.
Do you agree with Abayomi's confidence? Can the Flying Eagles qualify for the final at the expense of the Black Satellites on Wednesday?