Bosso and his boys have their work cut out from the off in this year’s Under-20 tournament.
Nigeria have to trade football-blows with mighty Italy, Brazil and dark horses Dominican Republic in this year’s Under-20 World Cup.
The much unpopular coach has stuck by and large with the same flock of players that has brought him cumulative moderate success in the Wafu Zone B and Afcon qualifier tournaments.
It is a decent outfit if we are to be honest with ourselves. What they lack in individual skills and footballing aptitude, they strive to make up for in teamwork, focus and determination.
But I still feel that Bosso shoots himself in the foot by not casting his scouting net farther and wider to capture Under-20 players with far greater technical capabilities and tactical nouse than his current assemblage.
As happened in the Under-20 Afcon, I hope and pray that this lack of quality indepth will not be his achilles heel in the tournament.
One saving grace is that three teams can potentially make it out of the groups which enhances the possibility of seeing Bosso's boys in the second round.
Will the second round be the summit of their ambitions, who knows? We will just have to wait and see.
My guess is that Bosso is banking on his (extended) time with this group of players to be his Trump card. There is wisdom in that afterall, in football the whole really should be greater than the sum of its individual parts.
In football, we have seen average teams with minimal technical depth but maximum level of understanding and coordinating slay dragons in various tournaments.
As a whole, Bosso's team are credible if not formidable in my eyes. But being formidable is what they have to be if they are to go far in this tournament.
Good luck to the Flying Eagles!