Nigeria’s U17 women’s national team coach, Bankole Olowookere, has tendered an apology to fans after the Flamingos crashed out of the ongoing FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
Speaking after the team’s exit, Olowookere expressed disappointment at the result but praised his young players for their effort and commitment throughout the competition.
“First of all, I want to apologise to our fans all over the world. We’re sorry it had to end this way,” Olowookere said. “There are lessons to learn and positives to take home. I’m proud of the girls because they gave their best.”
The coach admitted that conceding the first goal affected his players’ morale but maintained that they showed character and growth during the tournament.
“Sometimes a goal can lift or dampen morale. After the first goal, we struggled to regain momentum. But I can’t blame them — they are still developing and have shown great promise,” he added.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s campaign, Olowookere emphasised the importance of building for the future and developing more young female players through continuous participation in global tournaments.
“The end of the road for now is just the beginning of another journey,” he said. “We must start preparing for the next challenge. This experience will help us produce better players in the years ahead.”
Despite the painful defeat, Olowookere remains optimistic about the team’s future, stating that the players have gained invaluable international experience that will aid their progress at higher levels, including the U20 and senior national teams.
“The World Cup is over, but the future is bright for these girls,” he concluded. “They’ve learned a lot and will return stronger.”
The Flamingos were bidding to advance beyond the knockout stages but fell 4-0 to Italy on Tuesday evening in Morocco.
The team had earlier lost to Canada and France 4-1 and 1-0 respectively but scale the group stage hurdle by finishing among the four best third place teams across the six groups by defeating Samoa by 4-1.
