The Head coach of Nigeria U-17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowookere has assured Nigerians that the Flamingoes will qualify to the knockout stage of the U-17 Women’s World Cup despite their opening 2-1 defeat to Germany. The Flamingoes are billed to clash with New Zealand in a must-win battle at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium today to improve their chances of advancing from Group B. He attributed the team’s loss to Germany to lack of concentration, saying the girls had learnt their lessons and ready to take on New Zealand. “We lost concentration (against Germany), we were forced to play their pattern, although the Germans were forcing themselves on us. If we had maintained our style of play, we would have won,” Bankole was quoted as saying on NFF Twitter handle.
Expressing confidence about Nigeria’s chances, he said: “Yes we will qualify; we planned to win the German game but in football, you win, draw and you lose. Unfortunately, we lost our first game; we are going to work hard and block the loopholes, so we will be able to forge ahead. We need to win our next match to keep ourselves afloat in the tournament. I will play my role with other technical crew members to encourage the girls and make them believe that hope is not lost. We still have two more games to play and we just have to give it our all to make sure that Nigeria flies its flag high in this tournament.”
Chile trashed New Zealand 3-1 to top Group B with three points and +2 goals advantage. Germany came second with three points and +1 goal advantage while Nigeria is third on the log, with New Zealand bottom.
