Flying Eagles settle down in New Plymouth…finally

 

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have finally settled down at the Quality Hotel Plymouth International ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Cup finals after an exerting trip across three continents, which spanned more than 25 hours.

 

The African champions started out at the Frankfurt Airport on Sunday night for a 6 and a half hours flight on Emirates to Dubai.

 

After a three-hour stop-over, they then headed to Melbourne, Australia. The flight lasted over 12 hours and it was by far the longest leg of the journey.

 

 

They stopped over in Melbourne for about two hours before they flew out for Auckland, New Zealand. They were airborne for about three hours.

 

And in Auckland, where they were warmly welcomed by a small group of Nigerians, they took another flight, this time on Air New Zealand, to New Plymouth. The flight was for 40 minutes.

 

The weather in New Plymouth is chilly and raining as this is the beginning of winter in New Zealand. Locals say it is colder than Auckland.

 

Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho, who arrived New Zealand the previous day from his English base, was on the flight to New Plymouth with the rest of the team.

 

 

The Flying Eagles are due to have their first training in New Zealand 1pm local time on Wednesday, which will be 12 midnight Tuesday in Nigeria as New Zealand is 11 hours ahead of Nigeria.

 

Hungary, who will share the Quality Hotel in New Plymouth with their first round foes Nigeria, are expected to check in on Wednesday.