Nigeria is set to pick up another FIFA World Cup ticket in women’s football as the U17 Girls, Flamingos go up against their Ethiopian counterparts in the final round, final leg of their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup fixture at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday.
The Flamingos won the first leg in Addis Ababa penultimate weekend 1-0, with a strike by goal-a-game forward Opeyemi Ajakaiye, who now has six goals in the campaign.
Officials for the big match are scheduled to arrive Nigeria on Thursday, led by Senegalese referee Mame Coumba Faye, who will take charge of proceedings.
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She will be assisted by compatriots Adia Isseu Cisse (assistant referee 1), Fatou Bintou Sene (assistant referee 2) and Fatou Thioune (fourth official).
The match commissioner is Aisha Nalule from Uganda while Emmanuella Grace Aglago from Ghana will serve as the referee assessor.
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The winner on aggregate will pick one of Africa’s tickets to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in India, already scheduled for 11th – 30th October.
Since the competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to qualify to participate in only tournament – the 2018 finals held in Uruguay.
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The Flamingos should keep their wits about them against these crafty Ethiopians. As I mentioned on another post, the Flamingos failed to defeat Ethiopia in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. In this edition, they only managed a slim 1:0 win in the first leg – Ethiopia are still very much in this encounter.
“We would have liked to score more than 1 goal in this first leg so as to make the return leg easier for us,” said coach Bankole, “but we thank God for what we have.”
The Flamingoes gaffer added:”give or take, the Ethiopians are not pushovers. We know their history in sports generally. They have boundless energy so we just have to contain them and catch them the break. For the second leg, we will try as much as possible to stay focused, to work on our strategy,to psyche and motivate the girls more. That is why the Nigerian ambassador to Ethiopia and other dignitaries spoke to them to do well.The girls want to make themselves and Nigeria proud.”
Indeed, qualification for the world cup will bring a smile on many a Nigeria fan’s face. In what has been a disappointing year in terms of Qatar world cup qualification, the other national teams across age range hope to produce emollient performances that will soothe away the pain of the Super Eagles failings.
So far, that Flamingos have done their part in this swashbuckling, ruthless and gratifying world cup qualification campaign until now.
Crossing over the line with a favourable result against Ethiopia over the weekend will be the proverbial icing on the cake.