By Harry Awurumibe, who was in Windhoek, Namibia
Coach of the Namibian U-17 Women’s Football team, Mervin Mbakera has confirmed that the Nigerian Flamingos are far better than his Baby Gladiators in every department of the game.
Mbakera who stirred the hornets’ nest when he boasted that his team will overturn the 0-4 defeat it suffered in the hands of the Flamingos in the first leg tie a forth night ago in Abuja, suddenly eulogized the performance of the Nigerians after they walloped his team 5-0 at home on Friday.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the match played at the artificial turf of Dr. Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek, Mbakera confessed that the Nigerian girls are in the class of their own hence they dominated play and scored five goals against their opponents.
According to him, ‘’Nigeria is a big football playing country and a heavy weight in African football especially in women’s football therefore it is really a privilege for my young team to square up against Nigeria”.
The hugely disappointed coach however said his team and indeed Namibian football must draw a big lesson from playing a big country like Nigeria, adding that this is one of the ways to develop their own game.
Reminded that he had boasted that his team will defeat Nigeria in the return leg match in Namibia, Mbakera said although he made that statement he knew it will be a herculean task to beat Nigeria because of the quality in their women’s teams.
Although Nigeria beat Namibia 4-0 in Abuja, the Flamingos showed the host no mercy from the first blast of the whistle and it took only five minutes of the game for wing back, Patience Dike to score the first goal for Nigeria.
Fast rising striker, Cynthia Aku added the second goal in the 34th minute to demoralize the Namibians who were trying to stabilize after conceding the early goal.
With two goals deficit, the Baby Gladiators who enjoyed massive home support came back in the second half to fight for their pride but it was the Flamingos that added the third goal. Striker Aku popped up again to score her second goal on the night in the 56th minute after dribbling past the Namibian goal keeper to the delight of the crowd.
Nigerian skipper, Rashidat Ajibade made it four goals in the 72nd minute while right winger Yetunde Fajobi killed off the match to the disappointment of the home spectators.
Surprisingly, the Namibian team were joyous in defeat as they danced round the pitch waving to their home fans who reciprocated by cheering and clapping for the brave girls who wore their national colors on the day.
With the result, Nigeria will now meet South Africa to determine who goes to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Jordan later in the year.
