By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Still basking in the euphoria of grinding out a barren draw, which was enough to earn Nigeria a 4-0 aggregate score against Algeria’s U-17 women’s football team in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Africa qualifiers return leg match played at Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida on Friday, the victorious Flamingos of Nigeria will hit Abuja on Sunday night.
Prompt News exclusively gathered that the Nigerian contingent will leave the Algerian capital at 7:30 pm on Sunday aboard Air Algerie flight for the nearly four hours direct flight into the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
On arrival, the players and officials will pass the night in the city before going on holidays and to report back to camp early enough to kickstart the preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Morocco later in the year.
Recall the Coach Olowookere Bankole led Flamingos despite the wintry conditions in Blida, on the outskirts of the Algerian capital, Algiers on Friday night, dug their feet into the ground and achieved a scoreless draw that qualified them for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals slated for Morocco in November.
Holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage, the 2002 bronze medallists adopted a calm and collected pattern that easily soaked up the expected pressure from the hosts, and then relied on fast breaks to try and pull the trigger on their opponents.
Although they created the better chances on the night, the Flamingos failed to make dominance in possession pay, but swiftly collected the ticket to Morocco on a 4-0 aggregate win.
The difference over two legs of the final round was a remarkable display in the opening leg by the Flamingos, during which a brace by Queen Joseph, and one each by Zainab Raji and substitute Aisha Animashaun ensured a 4-0 win.
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The Flamingos will now be one of Africa’s five representatives (including hosts Morocco) at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals taking place 17th October – 5th November. The final competition will entertain 24 teams for the very first time.
Since the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to make the finals only once – the 2018 tournament hosted by Uruguay.
