Flying Eagles of Nigeria landed in Germany Sunday (See Full Squad List)

A highly confident Flying Eagles of Nigeria landed in Germany Sunday morning after a six-hour flight from Abuja the previous night. The African champions made up of 26 players and 10 officials touched down at the Frankfurt Airport by 6am local time, which is an hour ahead
of Nigerian time.

They then made the three-hour bus ride to Nurnberg, where they will be for the next three weeks finalising their preparations for the FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand. Nurnberg is an hour's drive from Munich.
Team spirit has been very high with coach Manu Garba again praising the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for making it possible for his team to fly overseas for maximum concentration.

“The NFF have done very well to get us of the country for us to fully concentrate on the huge task ahead and we believe we will justify the confidence of Nigerians in this team,” he said.

The weather is cold and rainy, but goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo said they will cope.

“It is not as cold as some of us feared. We can cope with the weather,” said the Giwa FC shot stopper.

Fellow goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo was excited to make his first trip to Europe.

“I like what I see. I hope I can return to Europe soon to start a professional career,” said the goalkeeper, who was first choice at the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal in March.

The team are booked into Novina Hotel, Sudwestpark.

Officials said the players will hit the gym Monday morning as the countdown to the World Cup continues.

The squad will be joined by four other Europe-based players in Germany, namely Isaac Success (Granada, Spain), Wilfred Ndidi (Genk, Belgium), Moses Simon (Gent, Belgium) and Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England).

All 21 players from the 2015 AYC triumph in Dakar, Senegal, are on the trip to Germany.

Nigeria have until May 15 to submit a final 21-man squad for the World Cup, which begins on May 30. African champions Nigeria are drawn against Brazil, Hungary and North Korea.

They will be based in New Plymouth for their first round matches.

Players in Germany:

Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo, Sunday Alampasu, Olorunleke Ojo, Adamu Abubakar

Defenders: Musa Muhammed, Zaharadeen Bello, Izu Omego, Mustapha Abdullahi, Samuel Okon, Abdulganiyu Saheed, Bashirou Monsoru

Midfielders:Chidiebere Nwakali, Ifeanyi Matthew, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Akinjide Idowu, Musa Yahaya, Bernard Bulbwa, Abdullahi Alfa, Kingsley Sokari

Strikers: Taiwo Awoniyi, Christian Pyagbara, Abdullahi Ibrahim Alhassan ‘Muazam’, Usman Hassan, Chidera Ezeh, Wasiu Jimoh, Saviour Godwin