Flamingos head coach Hakeem Busari has revealed how patience became Nigeria’s most important weapon in their hard-fought 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso at the 2026 WAFU-B U-17 Girls’ Cup in Yamoussoukro.
Nigeria dominated possession but were frustrated for 82 minutes by a disciplined Burkinabe side that defended deep, relied on long balls and attempted to exploit counter-attacking opportunities.
Busari said Burkina Faso’s approach did not surprise him.
“I envisaged this. Burkina Faso were going to sit back,” the coach said. “Coincidentally, we had chances but could not convert in the first half. Those chances would have changed the course of the match and increased our goal margin.”
The Flamingos continued pushing after the interval but found space difficult to create as Burkina Faso maintained their defensive structure.
“The tactics Burkina Faso tried to use against us made it a difficult game,” Busari explained. “We just had to be patient because we are dealing with young players.”
That patience eventually produced the breakthrough.
Mary Dunstan struck in the 82nd minute, forcing Burkina Faso to abandon their deep defensive approach and search for an equaliser. The change created additional space for Nigeria, and Oluwakemi Adegbuyi struck in stoppage time to complete the 2-0 victory.
Busari also praised Burkina Faso rather than dismissing their strategy.
“Football is about tactics. In Africa, we have good coaches and technicians who can come up with something. Kudos to Burkina for their tactics, and we were also able to curtail them with ours,” he said.
The result extended Nigeria’s perfect tournament record to three victories from three matches, following wins over Niger Republic and Ghana. The Flamingos have now scored 11 goals and conceded just two.
For Busari, however, Burkina Faso provided something the scoreline cannot fully capture: a test of whether his young team could remain composed when goals refused to come — and the Flamingos eventually found the answer.
