Nigeria’s U-17 Golden Eaglets on Tuesday arrived in Korea Republic to contest in the four-nation U-19 Suwon Continental Cup against England, Iran and hosts Korea, the Nigeria Football Federation announced on Tuesday.
The Eaglets on Monday departed Nigeria via the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos on a seven hour non-stop flight aboard Qatar Airways to Hamad International Airport in Doha, from where they embarked on another nine-hour flight and landed at Incheon Airport in Seoul 5:14pm local time (9:15 am in Nigeria) on Tuesday.
In Seoul, the contingent was welcomed by the organisers as well as a representative from the Nigerian Embassy before travelling on a two-hour bus ride to Suwon City. Players and officials are lodged at the impressive Suwon High End Hotel.
Meanwhile, the coach Manu Garba-led Golden Eaglets will open their account at the tournament on Wednesday against England at the Suwon World Cup Stadium – one of the stadia to host next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup.
England are in Korea with some British-Nigerians including Liverpool's Ovie Ejaria who was omitted from the Eaglets' 2013 FIFA World Cup-winning team as well as Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori, Tottenham midfielder Joshua Onomah and forward Ademola Lookman, amongst others.
Hosts Korea kicked off the tournament on a winning note Tuesday evening with a 3-1 defeat of Iran. After playing England on Wednesday, the Golden Eaglets will trade tackles with Iran on Thursday and clash with host Korea Republic on Saturday.
credit: completesportsnigeria