Garba downplays Iheanacho, Yahaya absence

Nigeria coach, Manu Garba is not bothered about the absence of Manchester City’s star­let, Kelechi Iheanacho.

In an interview on CAF website, Garba reflected on his team’s chances at the 19th edition of the Orange CAF U-20 Cham­pionship, Senegal 2015. Garba said his charges were “ready for business” ahead of their 3-1 victory over hosts Senegal yester­day at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar.

“The first match was as important as the final. Like they always say, a journey of 1000-miles begins with one step. So winning will help us go all the way. When you lose, it becomes a bit of a struggle in the re­maining games.
“We are very confident. We won’t underrate any opponent. We will do all it takes to achieve our tar­get. We are a team with a good record as far as first matches at major tourna­ments are concerned. At the African U-17 Cham­pionship in Morocco in 2013, we beat Ghana 6-1 in the opening match. Lat­er, at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we beat Mexico 6-1 in the open­ing match as well. The first match is what matters at the moment.”
Asked if he is worried by the absence of key players such as Kelechi Iheanaco, Musa Yahaya and Isaac Success for the tourna­ment, Garba stated that,
“Isaac Success was not released by his club, Granada who is fighting relegation in the Spanish La Liga. Kelechi Iheana­cho is not fully fit since he just recovered from an injury. Musah Yahaya also suffered an injury during our training camp in Gha­na. We are not bothered by their absence.”
The Flying Eagles will next play Congo on Wednesday, 11 March.