The Flamingos, Nigeria’s U17 women’s football team, are ready to take on the Bantwana from South Africa in Ikenne this Saturday, vying for a spot in the third round of the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers, Sports247 reports.
The Nigerian squad aims to build on their first-leg triumph, where they secured a 3-1 victory against their South African rivals in Pretoria just a week ago.
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The team that prevails in the aggregate score across both matches will advance to the fourth and final stage of the qualifiers for the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
Currently, the Nigerian players are training at the Remo Stars Football Institute in Ogun State, and they are favoured to carry forward the successful performance from the previous week.
Coach Bankole Olowookere is fully committed to ensuring every detail is addressed, emphasizing that the team still has aspects that need refinement before the upcoming match.
“We achieved a favorable result, but there are still areas where we need to enhance our performance before we face them again,” he stated.
The coach of South Africa’s Bantwana, Ntombifuthi Khumalo, will be examining the opportunities presented by the second leg and assessing how his team can reverse the current situation.
He stated, “The girls demonstrated resilience, and we now have a clear idea of what needs improvement.”
While Nigeria had a bye in the opening round of the qualifiers, South Africa decisively defeated Liberia with an aggregate score of 21-1 to advance to this stage.
There are four qualifying spots available for African teams, along with one designated for the host nation, Morocco, for the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which is set to take place in Morocco from October 17 to November 5
