Flying Eagles head coach, Aliyu Zubairu says there is no pressure on his team following Nigeria’s placement in Group B of the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
The revised draw, conducted by CAF after Egypt stepped in as tournament hosts, placed Nigeria in what some have called another “Group of Death”.
Reacting to the draw result, Zubairu insists that every team at this level poses a threat, and the real focus should be on preparation.
“I think it is high time we stop looking at some teams as bigger while some as smaller,” Zubairu told Soccernet.ng.
“There are no minor opponents in African football anymore, it all depends on your level of preparation.”
He continued: “Imagine when the first draw was done, we called it the group of death simply because we were drawn alongside Egypt, South Africa and Morocco.
“Now we have a new draw that consists of Tunisia, Kenya, with the same Morocco, and we have started saying another difficult group.
“Which country do we want to play that is not tough? All I will say is how much have we prepared is what should be the issue.”
Zubairu expressed satisfaction with the team’s progress, describing the improvements as “tremendous”.
With two weeks to go until the tournament kicks off in Egypt on April 27, the Flying Eagles are now entering the final phase of their preparation.
Thirty-five players are currently in camp, and Zubairu will soon face the task of announcing a final list.
“There is no pressure of any kind. All we are doing is to keep focus to achieve our first target, which is to get the ticket to the World Cup,” Zubairu concluded.
