WAFU U17: Dele Ajiboye Blames Golden Eaglets 0-1 Loss To Cote d'Ivoire On Late Preparations

  WAFU U17: Dele Ajiboye Blames Golden Eaglets 0-1 Loss To Cote d'Ivoire On Late Preparations By Niyi Busari Former Golden Eaglets goalkeeper, Dele Ajiboye, blames Golden Eaglets 0-1 loss to Baby Elephants on lack of proper preparations ahead of the tournament, BSNSports.com.ng can report. The Nigeria U17 lost 0-1 to Cote d'Ivoire in their group B opener on Wednesday at the ongoing WAFU U17 championship in Lome, Togo. The loss, means, the five-time world champions have to beat Ghana with at least two goals to erase the one goal deficit and have three points before standing a chance of progressing to the semifinals of the zonal competition. Ajiboye, who was in the goal post when Nigeria won the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2007, stated that they spent six months in camp which helped the team to bond and understand each other and that propelled them to rule the world. "The major problem the Golden Eaglets have is late preparation for the tournament. During our time, before any major tournament, we were in camp for six months in Abuja and Ijebu. Early and long time camping helped us to understand and bond together as a team." He advised the Nigeria Football Federation to organise national U12 and U13 championship for easy scouting of players who are below the age of seventeen and good enough to progress and represent Nigeria at the U17 competition. "The Nigeria Football Federation should concentrate on grassroots football development from U12 and U13 across the country for easy scouting of young good players that will graduate into U17. He however, urged the NFF to keep good players among the present Golden Eaglets to represent Nigeria at the U20 competition. "If this set of players comes back from this tournament, all the players should not be discarded. Some of these players are good and should progress to the next underage national team." He insisted that late preparations and not MRI tests was responsible for Nigeria recent poor performance in the age grade competitions. "I don't think MRI test is responsible for the Golden Eaglets' loss against Cote d'Ivoire and poor performances in recent outings. The MRI test has been around since and we have ruled the world two times after that." Ajiboye represented his homeland at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the Korea Republic, winning the championship with the Golden Eaglets.