Following the draws of the 11th African U-17 Championship Niger 2015 and the 19th Orange CAF U-20 Championship Senegal 2015 held on Sunday, 21 December 2014 in Cairo, Egypt; Cafonline.com sampled the views of some officials of the qualified teams.
Below are the reactions;
Lireaussi
– El Hadj Tiemogo Ibrahim Moussa (General Secretary, Niger Football Federation)
It’s a difficult group because of all the teams we are the least experienced. All the other teams have experience at this level. It will be very hard for us (Niger) as host nation, but we will do our best. We will try at least to honour our country.
– Joseph Atangana (Head Coach, Cameroon U-17 team)
We are in a group that has strong teams like Mali, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire. These are countries with a great tradition of youth football. It will be a group of well-known teams and we need preparations to go farthest as possible.
– Saer Dieye Seck (1st Vice President, Senegal Football Federation)
It will be a very hard group but we would want to wish for the warm welcoming of the qualified teams for the tournament. We will really take all our measures so that all the teams will feel comfortable to be able to compete in the best of conditions available. Every African competition be it U-17 or U-20 is always competitive. We were expecting to have a very tough group and we got served.
– Yahaya Sawudgu (Executive Committee member, Ghana Football Association)
We are ready for any team. We have won it before and at the last edition (in 2013), we were in the final. Next year, our target is to win it and I’m sure we can do it. No matter the opponent, we are ready.
– Eugene Diomande (Representative, Ivorian Football Federation)
On the level of competition, all the teams in the group are strong and not here by coincidence. We have to know that the group is difficult. For example, South Africa is a team that qualifies for major tournaments. For Mali, they have always had a good generation of young players. Congo has not qualified for a long time. With teams like these, it will be very hard and it will take mental and collective effort to emerge champions.
