FLAMINGOS head coach Bankole Olowookere still believes his team can advance to the Morocco 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup despite suffering two defeats.
The Nigerian girls need to beat Samoa today and hope other results go their way in order to advance as one of the best third-placed teams, after losses to Canada and France put their progress in jeopardy.
After a humbling 4-1 to Canada in their opening group fixture, the Flamingos lost again 1-0 to France on Wednesday in a match Olowookere felt should have gone differently.
“The game we played against France was much better than the one against Canada,” Olowookere said.
“If we had shown the same kind of fight in that first game, I don’t think we’d be in the situation we’re in now.
“It was really unfortunate to concede that late goal, it was painful, heartbreaking even. We’ll just keep working hard and see if we can get something out of it to stay in the tournament.”
France coach Mickael Ferreira admitted that the victory over the Flamingos was not a walk in the park, acknowledging the qualities of the Nigerians.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match. This Nigerian team is very committed, very united, very brave,” Ferreira said.
“We knew we had to rise to that challenge, to that individual and collective battle. And the girls responded really well. I’m very happy with what they produced in that regard.”