Chelle greets the recovery capacity of flying eagles after a tie against Kenia

The chief coach of Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, has expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the Flying Eagles after his 2-2 draw against Kenya in the final match of group B of the Sub-20 Cup of Nations of Africa 2025.

Aliyu Zubairu’s team showed grain and determination to come from behind twice at Wednesday’s meeting, with Kparobo Arierhi and Captain Daniel Bameyi finding the network for the seven times champions.

Despite the impressive beginning and capacity of Kenya to put Nigeria under pressure, the Flying Eagles did enough to ensure the vital point necessary to progress to the quarterfinals.

Nigeria, the most successful team in the history of the tournament with seven titles, two finalists and four bronze medals, once again demonstrated its pedigree, even in the face of adversity.

Chelle, who only arrived in Egypt a few hours before the game, was in the stands to witness the high -risk confrontation.

“I am very happy with the qualification of our U20 team,” he told Cafonline. “It was not an easy game, because we faced a very good team (Kenya). We reacted in this game. Every time we admitted a goal, the team responded well.”

He also acknowledged that the team seemed fatigued sometimes, which affected its general fluidity in the last third.

“I felt we were a little tired. It is true that we fight our attack play, but it was a very interesting game to see.”

Looking beyond the result, Chelle emphasized that the main objective of the tournament is to nurture young talent for the future of Nigerian football.

“U20 are 19 -year -old young people, 18 -year -olds. These are players who, in a year or even two years, will be in the national senior team of their country.

“There are good players in this team, there are also some in Kenya’s team. I think it’s good to come see.”

With the raffle ensuring the place of Nigeria in Las Rondas de Nocaut, they will now direct their attention to the quarterfinals, where they will aim to maintain their dream of winning an eighth title of AFCon U-20 alive.