CHRISANTUS BANNED, BOSSO TARGETS VICTORY

SV Hamburg of Germany fringe striker, Macaulay Chrisantus will miss the under-20 national team, Flying Eagles’ first two Group B matches in the 2009 African Youth Championship (AYC), in Kigali, Rwanda.

This is sequel to violent conduct and a red card picked up by the 2007 U-17 World Cup top scorer during the under-20 squad’s final qualifying match away to Sudan, which has earned the former FC Abuja star a two-match suspension at the AYC.

To this end, Chrisantus will miss the opening game for Coach Isah Ladan Bosso’s boys against Egypt on Monday as well as the follow-up tie against South Africa on Thursday.Bosso says he has confidence in his Flying Eagles to deliver on Monday afternoon. “We have had a full week’s useful final training and everyone is happy about it. It was good coming here ahead of the tournament. “Now, we are very okay with the weather and the terrain.

The boys know what they have to do and they will go about doing it from the very first match,” Bosso declared.The Wikki Tourist of Bauchi coach also noted that he aims to use the AYC as a stepping stone to greater glory at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt.“The target first and foremost is the World Cup in Egypt, and once we get that, we begin to think about the trophy.“Of course, we know the danger of under-rating any team.
It was clear from the defeat of Mali that anyone could end up with a bloody nose,” Bosso stated.On ground in Rwanda to provide motivation and full support for the Flying Eagles are Nigeria Football Federation executive committee member, ex-international, Dominic Iorfa and NFF general-secretary, Dr Bolaji Ojo-Oba. On Sunday morning, NFF president, Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi flew out of Lagos to watch the Flying Eagles’ first match against the Egyptians, before returning home for the FIFA inspection of Nigeria’s facilities for the U-17 World Cup, which commences in Lagos on Wednesday.Nigeria’s first match at the championship begins 12:30pm Nigeria time at the Regional Stadium in Kigali – venue of Group B matches at this tournament.On Sunday, at Amahoro Stadium in the Rwandan capital, venue for Group A matches, a colourful opening ceremony was followed by ecstasy for the home crowd as Rwanda’s team romped to a 2-1 win over better-fancied Mali.Nigeria won the African Youth Championship four times successively in the 1980s - when it was on home-away basis. When it assumed tournament status, the Flying Eagles were bronze medalists on home soil in 1995, runners –up to Ghana in 1999, winners in Benin Republic in 2005 and runners –up to hosts Congo in Brazzaville two years ago.