BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
With Nigeria’s Flying Eagles still in a tricky group in the new draw conducted for the Under 20 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Egypt, former skipper of Nigeria’s youth team, Andrew Uwe has urged the team to think less about the relative football strength of their opponents and rather be focused on achieving success.
The Flying Eagles have been drawn alongside Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya in Group B. Previously, they were in an even more daunting group that had Egypt and South Africa apart from the recurred Morocco.
Uwe, who captained the 1985 set that became the first Nigerian U-20 team to have a podium finish at the FIFA World Youth Championship now called the U20 World Cup told Sports Village Square of his worries about Nigeria’s youth teams not making the top marks again, even in Africa.
The Flying Eagles last won the African U20 World Cup 10 years ago. That was a competition that Nigeria was early dominant when the competition was called the Tessema Cup.
At the time, the Flying Eagles were the breeding ground for players who later made marks in the national team.
Since Uwe led the 1985 squad to get to third place in the Soviet Union by defeating the hosts in the losers’ final match, only twice in 1989 and 2005 did the Flying Eagles get to the podium by placing second.
“It is worrisome”, Uwe said from his base in Germany where he is involved in a coaching programme for the youth. He said he wished to return and give back to the system that produced him, but his overtures have constantly been ignored.
Among the players he captained in Nigeria’s march to the first of three podium finishes in the U20 World Cup are Samson Siasia, Alloy Agu, Waidi Akanni all of who made names in the Super Eagles.
Uwe was a central figure in the sensational Leventis United – a team that rose from the third division, gaining promotion successively and topping all the divisions. The club went three seasons without losing any match.
“I was born in Lagos and featured prominently in the then popular Principals Cup, YSFON and the Flying Eagles after which I graduated into the Super Eagles and featured at the 1988, 1990 and 1992 Afcon”, said Andrew Uwe.
He captained the Super Eagles in the 2-0 defeat of Cameroon in a World Cup qualifier played on 10 June 1989 at the Lekan Salami Stadium. To date, it remains the Super Eagles’ only match at that stadium. He also featured at the football event of the Seoul ‘88 Olympics.
He was part of the ‘Belgium trek’ of the late 1980s and early 90s as he left for SK Roeselare in July 1993.
He made rounds at SV Wehen, VfB Oldenburg, LR Ahlen and BV Cloppenburg – all in Germany before venturing westward to the US in 2001.
In the US, he featured for Houston Dynamos before retiring to pursue a career in coaching.
Uwe obtained the A and B licenses as well as the Premier License in the US. He followed up with the Popular Sports C license the UEFA B-level license and the DFB (Germany) Elite Youth License.
Since 2001, he has been involved in coaching youth teams in the United States and Germany. Some of the clubs include Ade Youth Soccer Academy in Houston/Texas, Saint Agnes College Academy in Houston/Texas and VfB Oldenburg in Germany. Other clubs he handled in Germany include FC Wittsfeld (Oldenburg) and JFV NordWest Oldenburg
Briefly, he handled the Vandrezzer Academy in Uyo Nigeria as the Head Coach as well as the Technical Director of Real Sapphire FC in Lagos.
In other clime, he would have at least been a youth ambassador and inspiration to the youth teams. He urged that Nigeria should have ambassadors comprising successful players who made the marks as youth players.
“I have often offered to serve, but had never been given a hearing”, he lamented. He urged the current Flying Eagles players to aspire to make a mark in Egypt later this month.
A semi-final ticket will see the team among the four that will represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile.
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