By BABATUNDE OGUNRINDE

Some Football fans in Lagos on Monday urged Nigeria’s Flying Eagles to toughen up as they set sight on Italy in their second match of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.

The Flying Eagles began their campaign defeating their Group A counterpart, Dominican Republic 2-1, to record valuable three points.

The Nigerian side played their hearts out and had good control of the game but it was the Dominican Republic that scored the opening goal in the 22nd minute from the penalty spot.

However, a resolute Flying Eagles team maintained their confidence and mounted countless attacks on their opponent to record a victory.

Football Fans in Lagos told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in seprate interviews that the team still had so much to do to secure a win or draw.

Friday Ekpo, an ex-international in his assessment of the team, said a lot still needed to be done as the Italian side were no pushovers.

He said the team should stay focused and do not allow their first victory to get to their heads as earning a draw was good enough to go into their last group game against Brazil.

“The team needs to stay focused, and should not allow any kind of distraction to affect their team coordination.

“They should listen to their coach’s instructions because they definitely should have seen the Italian side and assessed how to beat them and earn needed points to move ahead.

“There are weaknesses in every team and Italians are not short of that, hence the team should keep their heads and take to their coach’s instructions,” Ekpo said.

John Agbalaka, a grassroots football coordinator, told NAN that the team had the capacity to go far but must work hard to achieve their set objectives.

“They need to work hard as a team and stop waisting valuable chances as the Italian side are technically sound.

“They also need to maintain good ball possession and rotation as they showed against the Dominican Republic.

“They basically need to keep their heads and at least get a draw going to their final match against Brazil,” Agbalaka said.

Femi Adejobi, a football fan, expressed confidence in the Ladan Bosso tutored side and urged them to go all out against the Italians.

“We have some foreign based players in the team that bring in the necessary exposure and experience.

“The team is good and they keep up their good fighting spirit and don’t allow any form of intimidation from the Italians.

“It’s a must win match for them but if they get a draw it could be good enough to keep them in the tournament going to their final group game against Brazil,” Adejobi said.

NAN reports that Flying Eagles take on Italy on Wednesday, as both teams would be looking to earn valuable points having won their first match in the competition. (NAN)

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