Flamingos head coach Bankole Olowookere has said his team deserved the big win over Samoa, reports Completesports.com.
Olowookere’s side thrashed Samoa 4-0 in their last group game at the ongoing 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup on Saturday night.
Nigeria qualified for the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.
Read Also:2025 U-17 WWC: Joseph Scores Two Goals As Flamingos Thrash Samoa, Qualify For Round Of 16
Queen Joseph (brace), Shakirat Moshood, and Azeezat Oduntan were on target for the Flamingos in the game.
“Our start was disappointing and we tried to make up for that. The girls are happy now, they still want to take part in the tournament, they don’t want to go home,” Olowookere was quoted by FIFA.com.
” So they just had to bring a good game to make sure that we could remain one of the contenders of this tournament.
“It’s good that we have strong opposition, to prepare us for the next game. We have to work on those areas where they were able to penetrate from our team.”
By Adeboye Amosu
14 Comments
We shall be playing Italy as it is. I have watched the Italian team and there’s nothing so special. Our ladies should be able to defeat them.
Good luck girls.
No @Solape, there is “something very special” about the Italian u-17 girls. They scored maximum points ( 9 out of 9) in their group beating every team in their group, including almighty Brazil earlier today.
They are very fit, physically and tactical ly sound team, and probably the best I have seen so far in the tournament and I can’t see our girls surviving the Italian challenge at the round of 16.
Congratulations to the Nigerian Flamingos for qualifying for the knock out stage of the 2025 u-17 Fifa WWC.
Wait for Tuesday then. Nothing so special abi? From a team that topped a group that had Brazil and Mexico that have always qualified for the wwc (7 times each). Lol.
It will even be more disgraceful when (not if) Italy beats us. This is Italy’s 2nd appearance and what a way to reach the quarter finals!
My only treasure in this lopsided flamingos team (olowookere must not be the coach again after this championship) is Terlumun, the diminutive attacker.
I hope she progresses to higher levels.
No other player stands out for me.
Hopefully, the next coach will not finish this squad with tribalism and nepotism come next year because Africa since Morocco is hosting every year till 2029 will keep producing 5 teams and Nigeria should keep scaling through the qualifications
@Ogbeni Mr. Sly, why can’t you just leave predictions alone and have our fingers crossed. Anything is possible in football. I’m not saying we will defeat Italy or not but with my experience I have in football, anything is possible.
I know of Brazil in their group they’re not that fantastic, they are even lucky to defeat our Moroccan sisters. I know Mexico is good but not in their group though. I don’t know where you watched from.
Our girls are not that bad but the first goal they conceded early against Canada really demoralised them. Hopefully they should be back and running from the knockout stage.
Anyway, let’s hope for the best as I usually say.
Thumbs up Slymie. You nailed it.
Until wee take tribalism and nepotism out of Nigeria team selection this performance won’t stop. Same destroyed the male team till today. All thanks to NFF and the funny male U17, U20 coaches.
Now that we have right coaches for Supper falcon and Eagles we are all seeing the results.
From the selection you know that many things are wrong for this team. What should matter to Nigeria is success of the team not tribalism. If all the players come from one or two regions let them represent the country. Successful outing should be Nigeria priority.
The way Italy girls will beat this set of Nigeria girls next week won’t be small..
I laughed when Solape was saying that nothing was special about Italy team.
@Godsate — I hear you, and your point deserves a measured reply. Before we start chopping up squads by surname, let’s get the record straight and look at patterns.
Fact check: the Super Falcons that won the last WAFCON had about 11 players of Yoruba origin, yet nobody made that the story — because they won, and success they say, silences suspicion. Or may be I should also add the fact that the head coach, Madugu, isn’t Yoruba which further destroyed any tribal inkling. Similarly, Olowookere’s U17 girls’ team to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in India also featured roughly 11 players of Yoruba ancestry, and they finished third. No one muttered a word about tribalism even with the coach being Yoruba, because the team delivered results. And that’s the uncomfortable truth: squads with nearly identical ethnic compositions have produced both victory and honourable finishes without triggering any tribal outcry. But the moment a team falters, suddenly the chorus begins — “tribalism.” That inconsistency says it all: ethnicity isn’t the cause; it’s the convenient excuse we reach for when the real issues are too complex or too uncomfortable to confront.
If we’re serious about diagnosis, we must move beyond the surname-counting hobby. The real problems are structural: poor scouting, limited logistics, selection by influence, and underfunded coaching. When federations do not bankroll nationwide trials, coaches are forced to pick from where they travel, sleep, and scout — a practical reality, not a tribal conspiracy.
History also punctures the tribalism theory. Remember the Nigerian U20 team to Canada? Ethnically mixed, yes — and they faltered. On the flip side, the celebrated U17 side under the late Yemi Tella, largely drawn from the South-West and coached by a Lagos-based lecturer, conquered the world. Those outcomes suggest selection quality, preparation, and merit matter far more than the players’ ancestral maps.
The blunt, painful reality is this: selection corruption is the virus. Too many youth call-ups are the result of “man-know-man” networks — agents, club owners, academy directors, federation officials, and sometimes coaches themselves pushing favourites. The technically proficient, hardworking youngsters with no backers are left watching. Until selection becomes transparent, meritocratic, and properly scouted, we will keep seeing inconsistent results and reflexive tribal finger-pointing.
So let’s stop counting surnames and start interrogating processes. Ask who funded the trials, who scouted nationwide, what metrics were used, and which players were overlooked despite clear merit. If we fix those things — scouting, coaching standards, funding, and selection transparency — we will see better, more consistent teams regardless of where the players’ grandparents came from. Until then, blaming tribes is an easy story that lets the real culprits — corruption and poor structures — off the hook.
I’ve followed this current set of Coach Olowookere’s girls with genuine interest, but I must say: this may be the least technically sound Nigerian female youth team I’ve seen in recent years. From the way they trap the ball to their shooting, passing, and overall positional discipline — everything screams disjointed and undercooked. It’s baffling because, after their third-place finish in the last edition, one would naturally expect improvement. Instead, this looks like a side assembled in a hurry — all pace and power, very little precision or purpose.
Something clearly went wrong in team selection. I hope I’m wrong, but it does look like Olowookere might have bowed to the usual Nigerian curse — political interference. When coaches start allowing politicians, federation officials, and people of “influence” to shape their squad list, football suffers. You can see it right there on the pitch: poor ball control, erratic passing, awkward off-the-ball movement, zero buildup coordination, and a goalkeeper who’s not inspiring confidence either. The only redeeming qualities this team seems to have are speed and physicality — traits that used to frighten European and Asian opponents, but not anymore. Those teams have studied African football’s old playbook and learned how to neutralize brute pace with structure and spatial control.
It leaves one wondering: is this an entirely new team? Didn’t they have enough time to train together? What exactly went wrong in preparation? Because nothing about their play suggests chemistry, rhythm, or even basic understanding of team patterns.
Still, I won’t write them off completely. One thing about Nigerian female teams — they have this unbreakable mental toughness that keeps them alive even when everything else fails. The reaction against Samoa, for instance, showed flashes of that resilience, even though some might dismiss it because the opposition wasn’t exactly world-class. But then, that same Samoa side held France to a respectable result — so credit where it’s due. I still have a flicker of hope that these girls can rise to the occasion against Italy, but my optimism is cautious at best.
Now, to @Sly’s tribalism comment — the idea that the team has “too many Yorubas” because the coach is Yoruba. What many people haven’t noticed is how the South-West has quietly become the new powerhouse of female football development in Nigeria. There’s been an explosion of academies and clubs in the region — Robo Queens, Dannaz Ladies, Osun Babes, Castalog, among others — all with decent investment, sponsorship, and player development structures.
Naturally, these clubs have become the primary feeders for the national underage teams. It’s the same way the South-East and South-South used to dominate years ago with the Super Eagles. Football talent flows where structures exist, and right now, the South-West seems to hold the ace.
Let’s also not ignore the logistical nightmare confronting our coaches. The NFF hardly provides adequate funding for proper scouting or nationwide trials anymore. Most coaches are therefore compelled to build their teams from players within their immediate environment, which is why national underage sides often reflect the region where the coach is most active. In Olowookere’s case, although he is Abuja-based with Naija Ratels, his family resides in Lagos, a state he frequents regularly. Over time, he has become deeply familiar with clubs and players within Lagos and across the South-West. It is thus only logical—not tribal—that he draws heavily from that pool of players, not out of ethnic sentiment, but simply out of proximity and accessibility.
So yes, this team has its flaws — glaring ones. But before we throw tribal slurs or quick judgments, let’s understand the structural rot behind it: poor scouting funding, weak technical programs, and interference from people who should be nowhere near player selection. Until those change, every generation of Nigerian youth teams will look just like this one — fast, fierce, but technically lost.
Papafem, you missed my points a bit. This team scored 44 goals in the first 10 friendly matches they played AND DIDN’T CONCEDE ONE GOAL.
Suddenly the first “one week to the world cup” friendly match they played against New Zealand (who by the way finished bottom of their WC group now without a point), they lost by 4 goals to 3. Then they rallied to beat Paraguay 3-2 before the unwanted record of losing back to back first group games since they participated 8 editions ago.
That means 3 losses in their next 4 matches.
And if you watched the team in the group stage, you wonder who they played in the 10 friendlies that they won without letting a goal.
That’s my grouse. The coach – the bulk stops at his table – decided to carry players who didn’t know basic skills to promote his interests and NFF interest to the detriment of finding suitable talents for the next levels of our female football teams.
To be honest, I’d have paid no attention if he flops when media didn’t hype friendly results (which to me seemed like a hidden agenda in itself for us to pay attention and watch this atrocious football to discover who?)
That’s why I like the low expectations from The Falconets who are playing next month. No fanciful football results from Aduku and his team. He can as well have a skewed list for all I care but I know this is his first outing on the global stage and he wants to put his best foot forward.
It means either the flamingos dropped exceptional players who delivered those eye catching friendly results or media was paid to pad this talentless squad.
Who knows, the best talents might not have come from his tribe or the dominant faith representation present in this flawed team. Is this football? To generate a talent pool for falcons in future?
Papafem, I am so peeved because in OUR FALCONS team where anyone who is 30 is already old, we already have:
Plumptre and Esther Okoronkwo (monkey post undecided babes) – 27 and 28
Alozie – 28
Oshoala – 31
Ordega – 32
Ihezuo – 28
Onumunu and Onome Ebi (retired but over 30)
Omorinsola Babajide – 27
Uchenna Kanu – 28
Tony Payne – 30
Ayinde – 30
Ohale – 33
Those are practically first on our team sheet.
We need to blood new talent that are young but bankole and NFF are contriving to point out that we need to now scout foreign born pros going forward.
Is it fair?
No cadet coach should have a second chance again. Let it be one-off and by doing so, the coaches will want to be uncomfortable with NFF list and hone their talent at picking our next Superstars when they eventually blossom in the next stage of their careers
@Sly, the Flamingos will fly, Italy will cry, our strikers are not shy.
Tarara, I marvel at your optimism.
Do you know that if it were not because FIFA increased the number of participating teams in this edition FROM 16 TO 24, Nigeria would have since came home?
No place for best losers in past championships. That’s how low Nigeria sunk.
Another thing your optimism is misplaced (no hard feelings) is Nigeria has NOT WON THE LAST 6 MATCHES against any EUROPEAN OPPOSITION IN THIS WORLD CUP.
They drew 1 and lost 5.
Our opponents tomorrow have the current highest goal scorer in the cup with 5 of the 10 goals scored and have you seen the beauty of 7 of the goals?
No capping. Another drubbing awaits, tomorrow.
You will recant your prediction lol.
Just thinking about the rhymes lol. Sly, fly, cry, shy. Nice one…
I saw just over 60 mins of Flamingos victory over Samoa.And the very first time i’m seeing them play.
I think the team isn’t as bad as fans are making them,i want to believe starting the tournament against strong nations like Canada and France both traditional superpowers with extraordinary abilities in female football played a part in the early muddle.
Having said that,Nigeria too should be robbing shoulders with these nations,also classed a traditional female soccer nation and 8 times attendees.we should have done better,however,the victory over Samoa gives us a leeway.Hopefully,we could make the most of the opportunity.
From the defence marshalled by Ibrahim and the midfield of Nwachukwu and reliable captain Moshood,the attack of queen Joseph and the diminutive right winger can’t remember her name,wish she has more pace,i think the team has capable individuals to compete even against stronger oppositions in this championship.They may not get the luxury of spaces they had against Samoa when they square up against strong nations but they have individuals with proper coaching should hold their own against any nation in this category.
Finally,victory against Italy is possible.I am yet to see the dreaded Italians but we’re Nigeria,we fear no opposition after 90 mins we shall know who goes through but not until then.
This is true