Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba has commended his ward, Taiwo Awoniyi whose brace against Zambia handed the country’s U-23 national team the ticket to the men's football event of the 2015 All Africa Games.

The striker is one of the five Flying Eagles stars that Coach Samson Siasia invited to help the national U-23 team prosecute the All Africa Games qualifying match in Lusaka after the first leg ended 0-0 in Abuja.

The prolific striker who started upfront along with his U-20 team mate, Bernard Bulbwa scored a goal in each half of the match to ensure the Dream Team VI reaches the Congo Brazzaville games.

Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, Manu said he was happy that Awoniyi's goals helped the country to qualify for the All Africa Games.

He said the spectacular performance of the Kwara State born player has shown that if given the opportunity, most of his boys can deliver even at the highest level.

Manu therefore advised that most Nigerians who doubt the ability of some of his boys to do the job should now have a rethink.

"My happiness is that the country has qualified for the All Africa Games. It is a good omen because most people don’t believe that these boys can perform at the highest level.

"I think now that they have proven that once given the opportunity they can break into the senior national team, people will think differently."