AFCON 2025
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has taken to social media to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2005 national under-20 men’s football team known as the Flying Eagles.
The 2005 Flying Eagles era defined the Nigerian football space for a decade with their talent, European exploits, and national team progression.
NFF and 2005 Flying Eagles
To celebrate their era, the NFF posted a video of the Flying Eagles 3-0 victory against Morocco in an all-African semifinal at the 2005 U-20 World Cup.
Along with the video was a message that said, “June 28 2005. We take you back to Netherlands where we saw the birthing of great talents.
“Tag your favourites at the time. Nigeria U20 3-0 Morocco. #TakeYouBackTuesday #NaijaFootball #SoarFlyingEagles>”
The Flying Eagles had an abundance of talented youngsters such as Mikel Obi, Taye Taiwo, Sani Keita, Adeleye, and Isaac Promise.
The team led by coach Samson Siasia would make it to the final of the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup in the Netherlands.
They would lose to Argentina led by Lionel Messi who scored both goals from the penalty spot in the final.
Despite the loss, Mikel and Taiwo were celebrated for their performance with the Silver and Bronze balls respectively.
This era of Flying Eagles was also unable to get the breakthrough as they suffered another loss at the Beijing Olympics to Argentina.
The message by the NFF comes just after this generation of the Flying Eagles won the 2024 WAFU B U-20 Cup.
