U-17 WORLD CUP: FLAMINGOS SET TO BATTLE USA IN QUARTER-FINAL

The Nigeria U-17 Women’s team the Flamingos will battle USA in the quarter-final of the ongoing U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

The coach of the Nigeria side, Bankole Olowookere has expressed confidence ahead of the game saying the Flamingos can repeat the spirit that saw the team triumph over New Zealand 4-0 and Chile 2-1 in the group stage.

The Flamingos lost its first group game against Germany but bounced back to win two matches and set up the clash against the Americans.

The epic match scheduled for the DY Patil Stadium, Olowookere says it’s a match the Flamingos can proof they can better their best performance at the U-17 World Cup,

“As a coach, I have achieved getting to the quarter- finals of the World Cup, but as Nigeria, we have not reached the final journey,” Olowookere said to NFF TV, according to Punch.

“The best we have ever gotten at the U-17 Women’s World Cup is the quarter- final stage, I’m here to create a lot of upsets and set new records. Bankole added.

He emphasized that the team will need to work hard to get to the semi- final and set a new record for the U-17 team. In spite of the respect his team has for USA players.

“We respect the USA team, they are a superpower in female football. I am watching them closely, they play well and score many goals. I have to be careful about playing them.

“I am going for the win, but I have to look at our loopholes and try to correct some of the things we are not doing right. By the time we are done with all these, we have what it takes to defeat the USA.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Opeyemi Ajakeye who has been impressive at the ongoing tournament has scooped back-to-back Player of The Match awards in the match against New Zealand and Chile. And the Nigerian coach is excited with her performance.

Ajakeye has stated the Nigerian team is ready for the quarter- final battle while she is happy with performance at the tournament.

“I’m so excited and very happy winning the Player of The Match award again against Chile.

“We are coming out fully against the USA team, we are going to give a 100 percent performance against them. We are not scared to play against them.” Opeyemi Ajakeye added.