The Head Coach, Bankole Olowookere of the Nigeria U17 Women team, the Flamingos has promised that his girls will make Nigerians proud by securing a ticket to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup billed to hold in India in October 2022.
The Flamingos will host their Ethiopia counterparts at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja on Saturday, 4th June 2022 in the reverse fixture of the final qualifying match for the tournament.
While speaking to the NFF media team ahead of the game, Coach Bankole said the priority of the team is to make Nigerians proud by securing a World Cup ticket.
“Our main objective is to make Nigeria proud, make Nigerians happy with the World Cup ticket. We will not under-rate the Ethiopians because they are a good team who also qualified to this stage. We defeated them 1-0 in their country but that does not mean we should assume the ticket is won. We must work hard and keep our heads until the referee’s final whistle. No match ends until it is called to an end by the referee.”
He also stated that the team is fully focus and ready for the game against the Ethiopians.
“We are focused on the task at hand. The Ethiopians have shown a flair for playing better on away ground and that is one thing we have taken on board. The best approach will be to keep the ball away from them while we do the playing. We have been working on that since we returned from Addis Ababa and I believe we have the energy and the stamina for that approach,” he concluded.
Nigeria won the first leg on the encounter 1-0 in Addis Ababa two weeks ago and will only need a draw to seal their spot for the biennial football showpiece.
