NWFL Premiership: No pressure to replicate U17 WWC bronze feat – Olowookere

FC Naija Ratels head coach Bankole Olowookere says he is not under pressure to excel after a second win of the season in a 3-0 win of Osun Babes in the 2022/23 Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) Premiership season.

Olowookere guided Nigeria’s U-17 side to a third-place finish at the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup in India and now back to the domestic scene, where he will aim to guide the Abuja based side to back-to-back Super Six tournament.

Following his side’s comfortable 3-0 win over Osun Babes last Wednesday, Olowookere said he was aware of the expectations from Nigeria, following his national team feat in India but insists he is feeling no pressure.

“It was a good thing starting on a winning note after the long break, along with the World Cup because I know people are now expecting much from me due to the performance of my team in India,” he told The PUNCH.

“They want to see what I can offer, but I am glad we started with a win, even though Heartland players proved very stubborn and made us work harder because they scored first and I had to map out a strategy to get the result.

“There is no way I should be feeling the pressure, it is the work I did that made the club offer me the job and the experience I have nobody can take it away from me. I have a principle and that is to work hard and I believe after that the efforts will be crowned by God. I am not a lazy coach.”