Head Coach Bankole Olowookere has selected team captain Alvine Dah-Zossu, midfield jewel Taiwo Afolabi and top scorer Opeyemi Ajakaye as part of Nigeria’s 21-girl squad for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals.
There are also first-choice goalkeeper Faith Omilana, defenders Comfort Folorunsho, Blessing Sunday and Miracle Usani, midfielders Blessing Emmanuel and Chidera Okenwa, and forwards Omowunmi Bello and Yetunde Ayantosho.
Players and officials are scheduled to depart the shores of Nigeria on Monday, 26th September for a 10-day training camp in Turkey, before the delegation will jet off for India from Istanbul on 6th October.
Matches of this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup will take place at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Nigeria’s first match of the campaign is against Germany in Goa on Tuesday, 11th October, starting at 8pm India time (4pm Nigeria time). The Flamingos will then square up to New Zealand on Friday, 14th October also in Goa, before flying to Bhubaneswar to take on Chile on Monday, 17th October.
Read Also:‘It Was An Amazing Outing For Me’ —Godwin Thrilled After Making Super Eagles Debut
Since the competition was launched in New Zealand 14 years ago, Nigeria has only once been absent at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup – the 2018 finals staged in Uruguay.
21 FLAMINGOS FOR FIFA WORLD CUP:
Goalkeepers: Faith Omilana; Linda Jiwuaku; Jessica Inyiama
Defenders: Olamide Oyinlola; Josephine Edafe; Comfort Folorunsho; Miracle Usani; Tumininu Adeshina; Blessing Sunday; Alase Attervall; Immaculata Offiong
Midfield: Chidera Okenwa; Blessing Emmanuel; Mary Aderemi; Bisola Mosaku; Taiwo Afolabi
Forward: Omowunmi Bello; Opeyemi Ajakaye; Edidiong Etim; Alvine Dah-Zossu; Yetunde Ayantosho
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COMMENTS
Good luck o my daughter. Go in Jesus name and conquer the world
Without trying to play ethnic card, I can only see “Yoruba-incorporated” in this team. I hope this is the best available!
Nigerian coaches tends to pick players more from their ethnic group.Give the coaching job to a coach from north you will see majority northern girls same applies to east and other regions.
The south west are worst compare to other regions.As long as you could speak Yoruba,you have a very big chance.
How are we going to win this tournaments when we are tribalist?We shoot ourselves in the foot because end of the day our senior teams will never get fed with the best crop of talents.
Well said bro. I cannot agree less
I can only see Yoruba every where here and I can tell you that this girls won’t pass group stage bet me
Thanks @Michael. You know truth is very bitter. All those thumbing up one Kolawole’s comment, sure do not have eyes to go through the list! Although I do not really care whatever the coach does as long as he delivers with his choice of players, I will not stop asking if this is the best on offer across all the academies, clubs within and outside Nigeria for our female players within this age bracket
You are right actually but saying Yorubas are the biggest culprit I disagree with u, as fast as u know it cut across all ethnicity.
Check the squad that amunike took to u17 world cup in 2015,
The only team that is out of that is super falcons nd super eagles I am sure we all know the reasons
I mean as far as I know
2013 super eagles how many northener do you have in that team or how many southwest do you ..if you don’t have meaningful contribution ..just read and past
Today abi wetin u called ur name pls go bk and read my post very well before u jump like a. Indicipline chicken, when u read this time pls make use of ur senses very well becos u just simply open ur mouth to any convenient radius to talk ship,in fact i did not see where I included supers eagles in my post as bases for ethnicity
Thumbs up for speaking out the truth.
I recall during Eucharia Uche’s time as coach of the falcons, almost 90% of the squad she picked for both the 2010 AWCON and 2011 WC were of Eastern extraction too. Infact feelers from camp have it then that the official language in the camp became Igbo language
Manu’s 2013 team also had a large chunk of northerners in his team too. The tide swung eastwards 2 years later when Amunike took over.
Those saying Yorubas are the worst culprit are just blatant liars.
Its been a recurring observable trend especially in our youth teams that majority of players making the team are often of near same extraction as the coach.
While I dont have a problem with that as long as they are all Nigerians and are good enough for the team, but pinning it on one tribe as “the worst culprit” is being economical with the truth.
Exactly my point, when one stupid idiot who called himself Tod was saying trash , in fact I did not even mentioned super eagles as the culprit
SO when did it become a crime for a coach to pick players from certain parts of the country. Wasn’t screening exercise conducted. Was he the only coach analyzing players. He took roughly 7 northerners out of 21 allowed, so what was the headache. When foreign coaches were selecting Ibo players for the national team, what tribe were they from? How many northern girls play active soccer in that country. Please bring out names of the ones you.
@greenturf I am so disappointed in your comment above. So by simply going through the names you had concluded that this list is not the best available, that’s very tribalistic of you
Having 10 Yoruba names out of 21 without a single Hausa name is not a bad thing but instead you will only be happy when 18 out of 21 are from south east
You are all mad and crazy, a coach picked 9 Yoruba players all of a sudden he is a tribalist. You are all mentally sick, are you at the training to know who is performing well. This is why the country will never move with this senseless reasoning. Please i would suggest you thrash your TV because the coach selected Yoruba girls to the team. For crying out loud. i can count just 9 Yoruba names here. So whats the fuss
You counted 9 like seriously? I saw nothing less than 11 out of 21! Oga, I still ask, I hope this is the best we can present?
Well, it takes a mad ND crazy man to identify one , absolutely u are also mad and crazy since u can identify some of them here too
Like i stated and i repeat you are mad and a big fool. Its tribalist like you that is holding the country backwards. If you like count more than 9, do you know more than the coach. Even the last U-20 players was full of Ibo players and the coach i believe is from the north. So what nonsense are you coming here to say. Please burn your tv when the tournament proper starts.
Exactlymy point that confirm ur madness and level of foolishness like i hv said, a mad and foolish man always know his compatriots, u just confirm that by corroborating ur initial comment
I believe all the young ladies are top talents. Having said that, 5 of the ones I will look out for the most are:
1, Faith Omilana: Nigeria will only go far in this tournament if Faith produces sterling performances constantly. Coach Bankole plays an open brand of football which will generate copious opportunities for Nigeria’s opponents.
Faith showed exemplary reflexes, agility, good decision making and all round goalkeeping aptitude in the qualifiers. She will need r draw on those A1 qualities in India.
Alvine Dah-Zossu; perhaps the most “mature” player in the squad, how she brings her maturity to bear on the pitch will be telling. Very versatile, Alvine will need to be the Alex Iwobi of this team with leadership qualities off the ball and creativity with it.
Ever smiling, Alvine has a huge career ahead of her of she plays her cards right in India. The part I absolutely love in her montage below when we she declared emphatically: ” we are not at all scared of Ghana. We will roast them every day of the week.” 🙂
https://youtu.be/9SLpHxDolB4
3) Opeyemi Ajakaye: a sharpshooter who scarcely misses, this femme fatale has it in her to be a contender for the highest goals scorer of this tournament. She shoots with such pitiless savagery the the net is usually left with a forced blunt trauma.
Ajakaye is being bred for an explosive tournament, I can’t wait to see her in action.
4 and 5) Omowunmi Bello and Tumininu Adeshina are expected to bring their “A” games to bear in India. These Attacker and Defender respectively delivered suave performances in qualifiers with their silky skills and command of the grass.
With them in the starting line up, the Flamingos will fly places.
I don’t care if 80% of the team is Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo as long as they are they on merit and can do the job. We have to do away with this stupid tribalism and this is why we are still where we are as a nation.
Looks like IICC shooting Stars.
Una no go kill person for here. Naija na do eat dog country. The Buhari federal government, no be Fulani full everywhere? So, wetin go stop anybody wey dey position of power make e no put em tribe person for all positions.
I think our focus in this ethno-tribal shenanigans should be directed at the right place. That is those at position of authorities. Starting from the federal government
Josh men! Always a pleasure to read from you. You are one of the few people who make me come to this platform.
I hope the coach wins the tournament.
Competitions where majority players are picked from the South East/South south tends to finish on the podium which suggests the players were picked on merit.
Clean the remnant of the lies hanging on the side of your lips. Fanny Amun’s team finished on the podium. Yemi Tella’s team finished on the podium. John Obuh’s team finished on the podium. Manu Garba’s team finished on the podium. None of these were SE or SS dominated.
Merit has nothing to do with ethnicity. Merit is Merit in itself.
If merit means majority are from Bendel State like Sebastian Brodericks’ China 85 squad….So be it. If Merit means majority are from the SW like Yemi Tella’s Korea 07 team….So be it. And If Merit means majority are northerners like Manu Garba’s UAE 2013 team….So be it.
No one should give a damn what tribe dominates the national team, same way no one gives a damn about what tribe dominates the cockpit of the plane they’re about to fly in, So far they are all competent to do the job in both cases
Purge yourself off this ethnic egocentricity nonsense…!!! It’s old fashioned.
My posts can be controversial but never devoid or lacking in truth.It doesn’t bother me if I’m called a liar.
Your observations about unfair ethnic preferences and bias was spot on. Calling out Yoruba coaches as arguably the biggest culprits was unfair, inaccurate and in bad taste in my humble opinion.
Sorry!
I’m sorry you feel that way about my submission.
We knew who was in charge of the super eagles in 2002 world cup.A couple of players had no business in that team but was included because of ethnicity.
I was on about Mutui Adepoju and Femi Opabumi.
I’m not bothered if one ethnicity has more numbers than the others as long as they are selected on merit.Someone mentioned Amunike’s under17 of 2015 and Uche Eucheria’s team of 2010 for the fact both won gold in their assignments we should exonerate them because it takes quality to win tournaments.
Greenturf, you are nothing but a moronic tribal bigot. When Danjuma released the u20 squad that went to Costa Rica and the team was dominated by the same Yoruba, you could not push your warped narrative because the coach was not Yoruba. When Yemi Tell Tella won the world U17 cup with predominantly Yoruba guys, were you not alive? You and your fellow bigots keep pushing your unsubstantiated theory that only players from the South East and South-South are worthy of places in our national teams. May I remind you that the. two highest goal scorers for Nigeria are still yoruba?
Anytime, a team is announced and the roster shows multiple Yoruba names, your bigotry shows its ugly head but when a list is predominantly Igbo and/or South-South, you suddenly become mute.
Why are you so animated? Would you have reacted the same way had I mentioned a different region?
You know what,you’re not the first to throw jabs at me needlessly on this forum,but you know my greatest strength?My ability to take it on the chin!
Rise above them!!Haha…
‘I hope the coach wins the tournament.
Competitions where majority players are picked from the South East/South south tends to finish on the podium which suggests the players were picked on merit”
Greenturf, read your nonsense post back and tell me if that does not reek of tribalism, you ethnic illiterate.
So Femi Opabunmi (2001 U17 Silver ball winner) who scored on his national team debut in a pre 2002 world cup friendly and Mutíu Adepoju (who missed Mali 2002 AFCON due to injury) making the 2002 World cup is what made “yorubas the worst culprit”…?
2 persons in a 23 man WC squad makes “Yorubas the worst culprit”….????
Romanus Orjinta and Emmanuel Ekueme making our 2004 AFCON team doesn’t make Igbos the worst culprit…?? Neither does Eucharia Uche’s 2011 and Amunike’s 2017 squad…???
I guess those ones too finished up on the podium.
Onigbinje was supposed to wín the 2002 WC to justify or excuse his inclusion of opabunmi and Adepoju in that squad.
What hypocrisy….!!!
If 2 persons named by onigbinde in a 23 man squad makes Yorubas the worst culprit, I wonder what we should say about Eucharia Uche and her “Destiny Sisters FC” squad to the 2011 women world cup.
Just accept the fact that you goofed and quit looking for whataboutries to justify yourself.
From their comments and responses, you can easily know why and what they are arriving at..
You don’t see people from other tribes complain about Amuneke’s team to the U-17 W’cup or the one that failed to qualify for the U-20 Wcup..Both teams were over 85% Igbo..
Go check the Super Falcons team against france, 2018 8goals walloping, no player from Hausa or Yoruba tribe in that team and heavens did not fall.
The ethnic jingoist believes they can fool everyone , they attack players from other tribes for one errors/events, but keep moot when players from their tribes commit similar offense, they overhype players/coaches from their tribes but do PHD on others, they freely accuse other coaches but overlooked Alloy Agu’s discriminatory and unaccomodating attitude to GKs from other region..
Don’t forget that the North gave us Dan the bull, Dahiru Sadi, Cele, Lawal, Babangida, Musa,Sadiq,and more players from the north are breeding U-17, U-20. The highest SE WC scorer is from the North.. the legendary Musa.
Players from the South-South specifically Edo/Benin have continued to.play dominant roles in National team set-up..
The top 5 all time leading scorer for Super Eagles is dominated by players from the South West..
Folks need to take some chilled pills and stop acting like their tribe is better than others. All tribes are blessed with great talents.
They are a bunch of repugnant individuals trying to present themselves as having superior football talent while data suggests otherwise. The highest scorers or the Nigerian national teams are mostly Yoruba. The first Nigerian to win CAF Footballer of the year was Yoruba (Rasheed Yekini). The most succesful women footballer in Africa is a Yoruba woman. Yet, this ethnic illiterate who calls himself Greenturf was not ashamed to write this lie:”I hope the coach wins the tournament.
Competitions where majority players are picked from the South East/South south tends to finish on the podium which suggests the players were picked on merit”
If that statement does not reek of tribalism, I do not know what does
@Sunny, actually the first nigerian to win caf player of the year was Emmanuel Okala in 1978 and the also the first African to win as voted for by african sports journalists, i think there after caf formally took over. You also need to know that the award (started by and) was previously done by French sports journalists and mostly won by francophone players or african players based in france (Abedi Pele for example)
However, we need to eradicate ethnic complaints among us supporters and let the coaches do their jobs. I personally careless from which ethnic group dominate our national teams as long ss they perform well.
Big FAT LIE, please don’t come here and be spreading lies bro.
@Greenturf, you have to admit that you goofed big time with that tribalistic comment of yours and simply apologise
“Competitions where majority players are picked from the South East/South south tends to finish on the podium which suggests the players were picked on merit”…………..seems you need some history lessons on Nigeria soccer
Stop overhyping your region at the expense of other tribes and accept that Nigeria belong to all who lives in it. And Talents abounds in all regions my brother.
Rashidi Yekini, Segun Odegbami, Asisat Oshoala, Muda Lawal, Victor Osimhen, Great Stephen Keshi, Dan Amokashi, Peter Rufai etc are some of the greatest Nigerian footballers of all times but they are not from the East
@Greenturf,
I am not just disappointed at your submission here, but I must say I am shocked as well. I have been reading many of your comments on this forum and you make sense in most of your submissions, however this comment coming from you isn’t doing your image any good and I want to believe that this is the lowest you can get.
A good number of forumites have ruled out statistics that counter this tribalistic claim of yours so I don’t need to spend time on that.
Chaaaaaiiii, GREENTURF I am completely disappointed in you.
Hmmm…. I’ve been hearing these talks of the best sport men come from the East all my life but research always says something contrary to that. Ibos/ South-South’s are very useful when it comes to sport. We can’t do without them truly but that doesn’t mean they are the best. Most of the History makers in the country when it comes to sport are not ibos but Ibo have the majority when it comes to numbers.
In Football
All time highest goal scorer – Rashidi Yekini
Second – Segun Odegbami
The most Successful Female Footballer – Asisat Oshoala
Nigerian Greatest Goalies- Vincent Enyeama, Ike Shorunmu, Peter Rufai, Best Ogedengbe
Track and Field
Olusoji Fasuba, Once won 100m indoor gold
….And Now the record breaker in Female hurdle… you know who.
Anthony Olaseni Joshua and Samuel Peters both don’t sound ibos to me in boxing world .
Akeem Olajuwon and Now Antentokunpoh(Adetokunbo) of Greece both don’t sound ibo to me in Basketball world
And from the history of Nigerian strikers, Majority are from Edo/ Delta. e.g
*Yakubu Aiyegbeni
* Osaze Odemwingie
*Julius Agbahowa
*Victor Nosa Ikpeba
*Odion Ighalo
*Jonathan Akpoborie and Now
*Victor Osimhen
But the bitter truth is, all those History makers can’t do it alone without the presence of Igbo or Easterners behind them.
The greatest Naija Footballers
Austin Okocha
Nwankwo Kanu
Mikel Obi
Nkwocha Perpetual is next after Oshoala
Can’t forget Mary Onyali and Chioma Ajunwa when it comes to tracks and field
And Now Iwobi is always the name before every Nigerian assists or the assist itself. So in conclusion, we are all Nigerians, that’s why God created us together we’ve seen the best from ibo, we’ve seen from Yoruba, Edo, Akwa and Crossrivers, we’ve seen form Hausa land all form NIGERIA and guess what, they became the best because they worked the best. So, who ever represents in the Name of the country , let’s support .
No matter how we try to hide it, the truth is that we don’t love one another. There’s always that silent hatred that exists between tribes/ethnicities, and that has eaten deep into our system. That’s why I’ve always supported foreign coaches, outsiders with independent minds. Nigeria is broken beyond repair, no matter how good a Nigerian coach may be, that bias would still creep in at some point.
My friend Dr Banks I don’t have a chip,I shall apologize to everyone on this forum.
I think I went overboard emphasizing on one ethnicity.
It was unacceptable my behaviour that I’m sincerely sorry for.I let you down,@dr Drey,@deo,@Sunny,@Larry,@Omo Esan and everyone else in the forum I have offended please know that I’m committed to preventing this from happening again and hope you guys accept my apology.
I appreciate and respect yous as a forum and would like to maintain this fantastic relationship we have built through this platform.
I wish our national teams success going forward,we have it as a responsibility as a people as a nation to discontinue every pathway to failure by seeing ourselves as Nigerians first,embrace transparency in sports and other sectors only then we can start maximizing our potentials.
Thank you very much.
@Greenturf your apologies is very well accepted my brother, you earn greater respect from all forumites by this special message above. We are so proud of you and you will remain a great voice in this forum and the community at large.
You have proven to us what a great leader you can be in any endeavours you find yourself in future, Big up to you my brother!!!
Thanks bro
You remain highly appreciated brother.
I also join you in wishing our national teams success in all endeavors.
Let everyone who puts on a green and white do it with a sense of responsibility to the nation… at least till that time when we cease to be one (If that ever happens). And let all of us who support them from the sidelines too, do so from the point of objectivity at all times, not in allegiance to any sentiments. That is the only way we can avoid shooting ourselves and our team in the foot or stall whatever progress we have collectively made to this/that point as the case may be.
Big ups to you and remain highly honored my brother.
Thank you very much for your empathy and support.
@Greenturf,
If you were standing before me right now I would have hugged you for a minimum of 60 seconds. Now this is the Greenturf I have always known on this forum and I want to believe the other one was cloned (Laughs).
Your comment above is reassuring and gives us hope. You have made my day dear brother and I can’t thank you enough.
God bless.
Aww thanks haha,you very kind thanks