The Head Coach of the na
tional under-20 women football team, Peter Dedevbo, has said he had 25 players in camp for the team’s upcoming games against Tunisia.
The Falconets will face their Tunisian counterparts in the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup slated for Canada.
The first leg game of the second round fixture is scheduled for December 14 in Abuja.
The Falconets had thrashed their Sierra Leonean counterparts 16-0 aggregate in the first round to set up the clash against Tunisia.
They had won the first leg game 10-0 in Abuja, before going on to beat the Sierra Leoneans 6-0 in the second leg game in Freetown.
Speaking at the team’s interactive session with the media, Dedevbo said the players were highly motivated to replicate the performance they exhibited against Sierra Leone.
“Currently, we have 25 players in camp. They were 30 when we returned from our break, but we have had to prune the number after one week.
“This is to enable us have a sizeable number we can focus on towards the match next week. However, the team is in high spirits ahead of the fixture,’’ Dedevbo said.
He said the team’s technical crew had studied the video tapes of the games involving the Tunisian team and would plan to counter all their strategies.
Dedevbo also said that the Nigerian team was responding positively to training, adding that there were no injury worries yet.
“I was able to watch their tapes and I discovered that their performance is average. However, they are good in scoring goals. But I am optimistic that we are going to defeat them.
“After watching the video tapes of their home and away matches against Algeria, I saw a team that is not too good in holding balls. It was unfortunate that the Algerians lost.
“So, we are expecting victory against the Tunisians. But that does not mean we will underrate any team. We have been working very hard since we came back from break,” he said.
The team’s Co-ordinator, Andrew Abah, said that the cordial relationship between the coaches and players would help them to achieve success.
He said the Tunisians would not be an obstacle to the Falconets’ ambition.
“One good thing about these players is that they listen to their coaches’ instructions and they are always ready to learn.
“Some of them usually tell me that they want to be the first female team in Africa to lift the World Cup.
“They say they want to achieve the feat the Golden Eaglets are now becoming well known for doing,’’ Abah said.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is scheduled to take place in Canada between August 5 to  24, next year.