FALCONETS' COACH SAYS HE WON'T PUT ON DANCING SHOES YET

By NBF News

Not yet Uhuru!
•Falconets' coach says he won't put on dancing shoes yet

By GBOLAHAN DADA
Friday, March 12, 2010
He has qualified Nigeria for her fifth consecutive appearance at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup billed for Germany. But instead of waxing lyrical following his wards superlative goal-banging feat, the national Under-20 team Coach, Egan Adat, says he's not putting on his dancing shoes yet.

Falconets stunned pundits with its goal-crazy mien, scoring a total of 22 goals in four matches during the qualifying series of the 2010 Under-20 Women's World Cup, an outstanding performance that earned the team accolades from Nigerians and the Organising Committee of the championship.

Taking stock of the team's performance, which earned it the privilege of being one of the teams that will hoist Africa's flag once again at the world level, Adat said that while his young wards had landed in Germany, the challenge ahead still remains massive.

Shortly after picking the ticket to Germany, Adat told Women Soccer that to start singing that he has arrived would, to some extent, send wrong signal to his team. The Pelican Stars of Calabar coach disclosed that he had made his girls to understand the need to play down the success of their qualification for the world event and focus on the tournament proper.

“We cannot start now to celebrate because the main challenge is in Germany. Fortunately, we have picked the ticket in a very convincing manner, but we need to play it down so that the girls will remain focussed for the tournament proper.

“We will definitely meet stiffer oppositions at the World Cup. So, if we allow this victory to overshadow what we expect to fight for in future, it will pose a big problem for the team,” Adat stressed.

'In the past editions of the Under-20 World Cup, Nigeria has never gone beyond the quarterfinal stage. So, my target is to surpass the earlier achievements recorded by my predecessors. And to do that, I must drum it to the girls to gird their lions for real action in Germany.

“By the time we commence camping for the World Cup proper, all the departments of the team would be worked on because, though we have the ticket in our kitty, the real acid test is coming in few months time and that is where my focus is,” he concluded.