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Nigeria coach Ladan Bosso says his team will focus on their strength when they face The Gambia in the semifinals of the U-20 AFCON in Egypt on Monday (today).
The Flying Eagles will take on the Baby Scorpions at the Cairo International Stadium, seeking a place in the final after securing a FIFA U-20 World Cup spot with their narrow 1-0 victory over Uganda last Thursday.
Bosso has stressed that there are no small teams in the tournament as the team turns their attention to winning the country’s eighth titles.
“I’m happy to be back in Cairo once again after we played the last two matches in Ismailia,” Bosso said.
“We will face The Gambia who are a strong team and we respect them well but we will work to present a good level to win.
“We lost the first match and we have not lost any match since then.”
The Flying Eagles last won the tournament in 2015 in Senegal and Ladan Bosso wants to replicate that feat and secure their eighth continental crown.
“We will face a team that has not been defeated in the tournament,” Bosso added.
“The most important thing for us in the tournament is that we qualified for the World Cup. Now we will fight to win the title.
“There are no big or small teams in football because it’s only performance and result that counts,” he told CAF website.
Meanwhile, Gambia coach Abdoulie Bojang says the semi-final against Nigeria will be a tactical battle.
Gambia hammered South Sudan 5-0 to reach the semifinals while Nigeria needed an own goal by Ibrahim Juma to edge Uganda 1-0 at the Suez Canal Authority Stadium.
“It is going to be a tactical battle,” Bojang, who was named the Best Coach of the group stage, said.
“Like I always said football is beyond what is on paper. You can get all the records but what I believe is what can we produce during the 90 minutes of play.”
This will be the first meeting between the two sides in 16 years when Nigeria beat the Young Scorpions in Brazzaville to qualify for the final.
“Nigeria is the only team standing between us and the final. We want to be champions and that can only happen when we beat a champion,” Bojang said.
In their four matches so far at the tournament, the Flying Eagles have won three matches and lost one and have scored four goals and conceded one. On their part, the Young Scorpions have scored a total of nine goals, conceding none.