Nigeria names Man Utd, Milan stars for AYC

Under fire Nigeria’s U-20 coach Ladan Bosso has named Manchester United promising midfielder, Nicky Ajose and AC Milan rising star, Vincent Oduamadi popularly known as “Robinho” in his 25-man squad for next year’s African Youth Championship slated for Rwanda. Ladan Bosso has invited 21 foreign-based and 25 home-based players to camp in preparation for the African Youth Championships (AYC) due in Kigali from January 18 to February 1, 2009. According to The Guardian the invited foreign-based players include Rabiu Ibrahim of Sporting Lisbon, Portugal, Christantus Macauley (Hamburger SV), Ganiyu Oseni (PFC CSKA Moskva), Alfa Yakubu (Helsingborgs IF), Kingsley Udoh (Club Atletico De Madrid), Lukman Haruna (AS Monaco FC) and Chima Daniel (Charlton), Nick Ajose (Manchester United) and Vincent Oduamadi (AC Milan). The communication from the Nigerian Football Federation states that the players are expected to report at the Flying Eagles camp in Abuja, on December 28. NFF also several other foreign-based players who could not pass the screening programme set by its technical department, to report at the camp for a further screening exercise ahead the two week long tournament. Nigeria is drawn in group B against South Africa, Ivory Coast and Fifa U-20 World Cup hosts Egypt while hosts Rwanda, Mali, Cameroon and Ghana were placed in Group A. Recently raging Nigerian football fans called for the disbandment of the country’s U-20 football team ahead of the African Youth championship. This follows Nigeria’s elimination from the on going WAFU Under-20 Cup. The fans believe the team that featured in the championship cannot go far in next month’s African Youth Championship (AYC). After the team was beaten 4-3 on penalty by Senegal, most of the fans called for the disbandment of team while others called for the overhauling of the technical crew. The Caf U-20 African Championship is held every two years with the top 4 teams qualifying for the Fifa World Youth Championship. Until 1989 the African representatives were determined purely on a qualifying basis with no African title on the line. Since 1991 there has been a qualifying stage followed by a final tournament played by 8 teams in a chosen country. Ends

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Nigeria names Man Utd, Milan stars for AYC