Latest News
FIFA U17WWC: Flamingos desperate to get back on track against New Zealand
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
The coach of the Flamingos, Bankole Olowookere says the team knows what to do and is set to correct all the mistakes made in opening defeat of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup against New Zealand on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Miracle Usani powered into the net a free-kick in the 30th minute to give Nigeria hope but the Germans bounced back in the second half, scoring twice to scoop all three points after Svea Stold equalized four minutes into the second half and Albert Mura netted the winner in the 61st minute in Goa.
At Lunchtime (12:30 pm) on Friday, Nigeria will seek to redeem their image and return to winning ways against New Zealand in its second Group B game of global youth women’s competition in India.
“For a good tactician, whether you win or lose, there must be some loopholes to be corrected in a team.
We have two more games to play. We still have to encourage the girls. So far, they have yielded to encouragement and motivation,” Olowookere told NFFTV in a monitored interview by nigeriafootball.net ahead of Friday’s game.
“We are going to work on players that fall short and do the normal thing of going back to the drawing board. On the field of okay, we will make one or two corrections with some tactical changes. It’s only when you win that you don’t change a winning team. With the first result, we will have to make some changes and correct our mistakes.”
European champions Germany came back from one goal down to edge Nigeria 2-1 in their opening game at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in India on Tuesday.
“Sincerely, it was a painful loss for us as a team. We wanted to create upset because that’s why we are here,” the coach continued.
“Although we lost, looking at the effort put into the game, it made the girls to be demorarized. The coaching crew had to take up the role of parents to encourage them. They are now prepared for the games ahead.”
Meanwhile, the captain of Flamingos, Alvine Da Zossu says the team will give their all today when they take on New Zealand.
She said: “We have been able to overcome the pain of losing our first game and learned from our mistakes. Hopefully, we will do better in our next game. We lost concentration a little in our first game which enabled our opponents to score those two goals. We have worked on that and it won’t occur again.”
“For the next game, we are going to give our all. The game will determine if we will remain in the tournament or go back home,” the Rivers Angels player concluded.
The Flamingos will be back on the turf of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium today to seek three points against New Zealand.
