“Nothing is impossible” – Ex-Nigeria goalkeeper backs Flamingos to reach U17WWC semi

Former Super Falcons of Nigeria goalkeeper, Ann Chiejine says the Nigerian U-17 girls can go all the way at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

Nigeria reached the quarter-finals of the ongoing global women’s youth tournament after the Flamingos scooped all three points from Chile in a 2-1 win in Bhubaneswar on Monday.

“There is nothing impossible for a team to do. They lost their first game against Germany and came back against New Zealand. Now they are into the quarter-final after beating Chile,” Chiejine told Nigeriafootball.ng.

“The team can go all the way and progress past the quarter-final. They now play with cohesion and focus. Pressures made them concede against Germany and they improved afterward. When they face USA, they can get a good result on Friday.”

Blessing Emmanuel’s goal in the 4th minute of the game and Bisola Mosaku’s strike off a free-kick by dead-ball artist Miracle Usani with eight minutes left was enough to see Nigeria through at the Kalinga Stadium, despite a late penalty converted by Roverner Tali.

Nigeria finished second in Group B with six points, and a plus six goals advantage after scoring seven goals and conceding only two. Flamingos will next face the United States of America (USA) in the quarter-final on Friday.

The West African team is yet to progress past the quarter-final stage at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. A win for the team over USA will secure a semi-final berth for the side for the first time.

Nigerian coach, Bankole Olowookere has stated since the beginning of the tournament that his team will grow into the tournament to be able to convert their chances and put up a good performance.

He believes a semi-final spot will be a dream come true for the team and the techical crew.