Nigeria prepare for France test at U20 World Cup
Last updated on .From the section Football
Nigeria take on France in the quarter-final of the Under-20 World Cup in Colombia on Sunday.
The Flying Eagles have been the revelation of the tournament so far, scoring 13 goals while conceding only two.
France have never been beyond the quarter-finals of this competition, whilst Nigeria have been beaten finalists twice.
"I have a lot of confidence in the team," Nigeria coach John Obuh said.
"I know the boys and I'm sure they will always express themselves when the chips are down."
Nigeria sailed through the group phase with a series of big wins - but proved they could overcome a more defensive opponent when they beat England 1-0 in the round of 16.
"When the tournament gets tougher, the tough get going, so I'm sure that we'll continue to move forward," Obuh said.
The Flying Eagles and hosts Colombia are the only two teams with a perfect record at the tournament - France were thumped 4-1 by Colombia in their opening game.
The quarter-final is in Cali on Sunday evening with the winner going through to play the winner of Portugal versus Argentina.
Nigeria are the only African team remaining in the tournament and coach Obuh said he was surprised by that.
"I felt the African Youth Championship was keenly contested and the teams that qualified were good enough to have excelled themselves [here]," he said.
Meanwhile Cameroon endured a difficult end to their tournament.
One member of the delegation was forced to settle the teamm's outstanding hotel bill personally after the funds were not forthcoming from official sources.
The team were held back in the hotel for a number of hours before the bill was settled - but they still made their flight home.
