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Nigeria were drawn in Group B alongside Morocco, Zambia and South Africa.
The head coach of Nigeria's Golden Eaglets, Nduka Ugbade, has reacted to the draw for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Nigeria target is to pick World Cup ticket - Ugbade
The coach of the five-time world champions revealed that the team’s mission in Algeria is to pick up a World Cup ticket.
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The former Nigeria international added that they will not underestimate any team in the championship.
He said, "It's quite interesting that it's like this now because the die is cast and there is no going back. Morocco is known from North Africa and their football is known to me very well considering what they've done in the World Cup, I think their U-17 will be motivated to do better as well.
“Recently they've been engaged in friendly matches for this competition. Then, the issue of South African football has gone exploded into a beautiful footballing nation, that one too is something that makes us worried a bit.
“Zambia is always known for good football and these three nations are from the altitude so they will have enough strength, speed, endurance and power to compete but knowing that we have won the World Cup Five times and we are favourites, so we will not look at our group alone.
“We know if we win the 4th match surely we've gotten to the semi-final and qualified for the World Cup. It will very interesting to know that the likes of Algeria, Senegal and Congo are in groups in Cameroon, Mali, and Burkina Faso, their stories cannot leave our memory, they are very strong.”
He stated further the team is full of confidence, which will help his team to conquer Africa.
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"At the WAFU tournament, we met Burkina Faso in the final and again we are not going to remove Congo. If you are going to this kind of competition and you don't have fear, then you're not prepared but not that it will cripple us, it's that, that will create unbelievable performance when we have the opportunity to face any team in the competition, this is my view on the group," he stated.
Complete Groups for 2023 U-17 AFCON
Group A: Algeria, Senegal, Congo, Somalia
Group B: Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Zambia
Group C: Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Sudan
The competition will take place from April 29 to May 19, 2023, in Algeria.
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