Flamingoes have apologized to Nigerians for their failure to progress beyond the quarter-final following a 3-0 loss to Spain at the ongoing FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica on Friday morning.
A brace from Patri Guijarro and one from Nahikari Garcia were all the Europeans needed to book a place in the semi final of the competition at the expense of Bala Nikyu’s side as the Nigerians once again missed out on making it past the quarters.
Speaking after the game, Flamingoes’ assistant captain Uchenna Kanu appealed to Nigeria to bear with the team and not to murder them as it was never their delight to lose the encounter.
Uchenna while admitting disappointment with her side’s loss to Spain and quarterfinal exit lamented the quality of officiating, but foresee Nigeria winning the next edition of the tournament.
“I’m not happy that we lost, I’m not happy that we are out of the Competition – I believe football is a game of luck, It can favour anybody, any day, but we thank God none of us sustain any injury. The
way it happened today, I don’t know what happen with the referee and everything seems against us. I know it’s not a thing of joy to lose and not only losing, getting out of the tournament, it’s very appalling.
“It normal for them to be angry and disappointed when people think you will get to somewhere. It is just sad but I don’t think they should kill us because we lost the match or because we are out of the
tournament – I believe that one day the trophy we come to Africa, Nigeria to be precise. They should bear with us,” she pleaded.
However, striker and captain of the Nigerian side, Chiwendu Ihezuo also registered huge disappointment with the Flamingoes exit from the age grade competition, insisting amiss over what transpire against Spain.
“I feel very bad about the outcome of the match. I don’t know what happen to us today. I know they are very disappointed in us. We just appeal to them that we are very sorry. This is not the end of the
World. We will still try our possible best next time,” the Pelican forward said amidst tears.
In the same vein, Flamingoes’ head coach Bala Nikyu, has praised the standard of the competition though expressed displeasure over his team’s performance and the outcome of the quarterfinal game against Spain.
“Although we’re disappointed that our adventure has ended too early, we’ve really enjoyed taking part in this marvellous FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which has been fantastically well organised. It goes
without saying that I’m not happy with the way the match panned out or our performance, but there’s nothing we can do about it now except try to put it behind us,” upset Nikyu said.
The Nigerian side departed Liberia venue of the quarter final on Friday morning (Friday evening in Nigeria), headed to Madrid and from there connected Lagos, from where the team will leave for its final
destination in Abuja tomorrow morning.
