FIFA U17 WWC: Bagging triple Player of the Match awards excites Opeyemi Ajakaye

Nigeria U17 women’s team forward, Opeyemi Ajakaye has expressed her joy after winning the player of the match in the country’s 3-2 penalty victory over Germany on Sunday.

Opeyemi Ajakaye scored the first goal of the third-place match which lifted Bankole Olowookere tutored side to a 3-0 lead before resurgence Germans netted thrice in the final 20 minutes to drag the game into penalties.

Flamingoes eventually won the game via penalties to win a bronze medal, equaling Ghana’s Africa record at Azerbaijan 2012 U-17 Women’s World Cup and Ajakaye, who won her third Player of the Match lauds her mates.

“I am very happy for winning the player of the match against Germany in third place match,” Ajakaye, who currently represent FC Robo Queens in Nigeria, told NFFTV.

“I can’t really say why I got three players of the match prize after scoring a goal. It might be due to how I play.”

The former Rivers Angels and DreamStar FC Ladies forward won three players of the match award against New Zealand and Chile in the group stage before clinching her third accolades in the third-place triumph over Germany.

“I want to thank Nigerians for their support, advise, and encouraging me throughout the tournament. I am really grateful,” she concluded.

The third-place match also had to be settled via a penalty shootout, after the Flamingos conceded three goals in the last 18 minutes to tie the game 3-3.

Victory in the shootout, despite defender Tumininu Adeshina’s miss, earned Nigeria a historic third place at the finals after being nowhere near in the last tournament in Uruguay.

“We give God the glory. It was a roller-coaster but we learnt a lot of lessons and it will help the players as they graduate to other levels of the National Team,” coach Olowookere said.

“We strove hard to get our hands on the trophy but we will take the bronze medals for now and return home to go and prepare hard for the next edition.”

Meanwhile, the victorious Flamingos will fly back into Nigeria at noon on Tuesday.