Nigeria's Golden Eaglets have decided to shelve aside the Christmas to continue their preparation ahead of the 2015 African Under-17 Championship in Niger Republic.
The Nigerian under-17s are currently the only national team in the country still in camp. They trained on the Eve of Christmas as players were made to focus on physical drills that included athleticism and abdominal exercises at the Goal Project in Abuja.
Golden Eaglets head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, who turns 44 on Christmas Day, believes that "the only magic in football is fitness."
The former African Footballer of the Year is ready to drill his team throughout the holidays to ensure that they achieve that feel of being "a winner."
"The only magic in football is fitness and not any fetish thing; and without fitness, we can't be a winner. By the grace of God, we would train once on Thursday because we need to keep ourselves very fit for the task ahead.
"We are quite impressed with the response of the players but we are going to push them even harder. The players need to regain their fitness level because some are still rusty since we went on break after the qualification in September.
"For us to function well, we must be ready to work well because apart from your skill, you have to push yourselves very hard and that is why the like of Messi and Ronaldo are still the best in the world," said Amuneke.
The Nigerian under-17s have been drawn in Group A of the African Under-17 Championship alongside hosts Niger Republic, Guinea and Zambia.
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