“Scoring four goals is not easy” — Olowookere defends wasteful Flamingos vs Algeria

By Monsurah Olatunji

Head coach of Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowookere, has defended his players following their 4–0 win over Algeria in the first leg of the final round of qualifiers for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Despite the comfortable margin of victory at the Remo Stars Stadium on Saturday, many fans were left frustrated by the Flamingos’ wastefulness in front of goal, especially after they scored three times in the first 20 minutes and failed to add to the tally until stoppage time.

Queen Joseph gave Nigeria a dream start with a goal inside the opening minute, with two more quickfire goals putting the hosts firmly in control.

However, a flurry of missed opportunities throughout the match left supporters wondering how the team would fare against stronger opponents like the United States, who knocked them out of the last World Cup in the Dominican Republic.

Olowookere, however, remained upbeat in his post-match comments, emphasizing that scoring four goals and keeping a clean sheet is a strong result in any context.

“Scoring four goals in a match is not easy,” Olowookere said. “Kudos to the girls for giving their all on the pitch. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get more despite creating a lot of chances.”

He stressed the importance of maintaining a clean sheet under CAF’s away goals rule and highlighted the developmental stage of his players.

“If we can score four goals here, we can score away too,” he added. “Nobody expects U-17 girls to play like superstar professionals. These are young girls, learning and still growing. The fact that they are creating chances means they can score.”

Olowookere revealed the team created about 15 chances in the match and noted that while conversion can improve, the current performance shows promise.

“We have to appreciate them and not condemn them for missed chances. We’ll watch the game again, analyze our mistakes, and correct them before the return leg,” he concluded.

The Flamingos travel to Algeria for the second leg on Friday, April 25, needing to avoid a heavy defeat to secure qualification for the World Cup.