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2025 FIFA U-17 WWC Qualifiers: Bankole Olowookere banks on World Cup experience to defeat South Africa

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2025 FIFA U-17 WWC Qualifiers: Bankole Olowookere banks on World Cup experience to defeat South Africa

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

The head coach of Nigeria U-17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowookere, is confident that the team has learned from their experience at the last World and is better equipped to defeat South Africa in the Second Round of the next World Cup Qualifiers.

The Flamingos were drawn bye from the last round while their opponents recorded a resounding victory over Gabon.

South Africa thrashed Gabon 21-2 on aggregate to set up a second round date with Nigeria.

“It has been a normal way we prepare the team for the tournament ahead of the clash against South Africa,” Olowookere said.

“We have selected players in camp. We are preparing well and hoping to have a good outing against South Africa. The purpose is to win the match. We are training to make sure that we get the winning strategy against South Africa.”

With a quarter-final finish at the last World Cup and a silver medal at the West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) U-17 Girls Cup, Olowookere is banking on the team’s World Cup experience to see off South Africa.

“Our experience at the last FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic was sweet and mixed with bitter one as well. Sweet in the sense that the players were able to be exposed because that is what the game is about: to identify talents and nurture them to become future stars, which we really achieved. They passed through Africa qualifiers to the World Cup,” He continued

“We played a series of local and international friendly matches before the World Cup. I think the last one was against Mexico. At the World Cup, we had a very good outing in the group stage which we won all our matches with more goals not until the quarter-final where the Americans had their revenge because at the previous World Cup in India in 2022, we met the same team at the quarter-final which we defeated them and won the bronze at that time for the first time for Nigeria.

“In 2024, we were not that too lucky against the Americans. That was the bitter aspect of it because we were really determined to go far at the World Cup, but sometimes it is not the way one plans it in football. Football is so dynamic. It’s not mathematics that one can always get one formula right. Sometimes, somebody can just plot one’s strategy and overturn one’s better plan. That was what really happened to us.”

A bronze medal at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was followed by a quarter-final ouster in 2024, with America avenging their loss in the last eight.

“We never see the Americans beating us. Their game plan works because we lost some of our key players in the early minutes of the game due to injury. I think that is over now.

“Whatever I have learned from the World Cup is there for me in the future to make use of. I have really learned a lot. Developing girl child has really being a thing of joy for me because they grow to become super Stars.” He concluded.

 

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