Aspire’s Spanish Coach Salute Eaglets

Former coach of Barcelona Youth team, Felix Sanchez, has described Nigeria's Golden Eaglets as the future team.

Sanchez, who is currently handling the Under-18 Team of the Aspire Academy in Doha, made the statement after watching the Golden Eaglets snared his youngsters 7-1 in a friendly match played yesterday at the Khaled Salam Pitch inside the imposing Aspire Centre on Monday,

 Sanchez hailed the quality of the Nigerian side. “I’m quite impressed with the quality of the Nigerian team, “ said Sanchez who has a UEFA A- license badge and doubles as a Senior Football Coach at Aspire Academy

.“We played against a very impressive team. Fast-paced with good techniques and it was really hard for us to cope with them.”

 The coach, who is a UEFA A- license badge and doubles as a Senior Football Coach at Aspire Academy, said he was impressed with the quality of the Nigerian team, stressing that the Aspire Under 18 team played against a very impressive team that is fast-paced with good techniques.

 “It was difficult to play a team of this quality and it was very hard for us,” he stated. “The Nigerian team can play forward but we need to congratulate them as well as the other team for their efforts because we clearly missed some key players.”

Though missing the services of some key players due to outside engagements with European clubs, Sanchez admitted that he was not oblivious of the quality the Nigerian team, adding that their coaching crew must have done a lot of work before the team could acquire modern football skills.

Pressed to single out a particular player that caught his eyes during the game that saw his wards losing by such a wide margin, Sanchez, noted that the beauty of football was about team effort as he praised the Golden Eaglets for being a strong bunch to deal with.

 Said he: “Generally, all the players have good quality and there is no point singling just one or two players out. For me, all the players have good techniques which are quite high. In fact, their speed and the physical strength are really amazing.

 “It was not easy to play against this team but the experience is good for our players too. We would try and perform better in our next game. Do few things right because it was difficult playing against the Nigerians.”

 Meanwhile, the Golden Eaglets are expected to line up against another youth team from the Aspire Academy tomorro as they intensify their preparation for the forthcoming Confederation of African Nations Under-17 Championship to be hosted in Morocco between thirteenth and fourteenth of April, 2013.