Nigeria’s Flamingoes have advanced to the final stage of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying series despite a goalless draw with Ethiopia on Saturday at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
However, Nigeria advanced to the next stage on away goal rule having played a 1-1 draw in the first leg tie in Addis Ababa.
The coach Bala Nkiyu-piloted team perhaps failed to live up to the expectations of many spectators at the stadium including the Edo State’s deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu and the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Amaju Pinnick, among others.
The Flamingoes now face a big hurdle with Cameroon as their final opponents. The young Cameroonians whitewashed their Algerian counterparts home and away to also advance towards playing at the 2018 cadet World Cup.
In his remarks, Bala expressed disappointment at the outcome of the game dominated especially by the visitors in the second half.
Nikyu promised to overhaul the team ahead of their encounter with ruthless Cameroon next February saying that much work would be carried out having noticed a number of lapses in the team.
Meanwhile, Comrade Shaibu has expressed optimism about the ability of the Flamingoes to qualify for the World Cup at the expense of Cameroon. He stated that the coach and the NFF would have done more work to put the team in a better shape technically ahead of the qualifiers against Cameroon.
FIFA U-17 Women’s W-Cup qualifier: Flamingoes advance on away goal rule
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