Head coach of Nigeria’s Flamingos, Olowokere Bankole has reacted to the just concluded 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup held this evening in India.
Nigeria’s Flamingos have been paired alongside Germany, Chile and New Zealand in Group B of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
In an exclusive chat with sports247.ng, after the draws, Bankole said there are no easy groups in the World Cup but assured Nigerians good outing.
He explained further that Nigerian football fans should not see the group as easy noted that all the teams in the group fought hard to qualify for the tournament in their various continents.
“We should not see our group as easy because all the teams fought hard before they qualified from their various continents.I respect all the teams in our group but we need to start early preparation now before the tournament. I am not bother about the countries in our group but I am focusing on my team’s preparation and ensure that I prepare a solid team before our first game,” he said.
The Nigerian girls had a brilliant run in the qualification series for the competition. They overcame Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia en route to the tournament.
They scored 15 goals and conceded none in the process with Opeyemi Ajakaye striking six times as Nigeria sealed a ticket to India.
Africa’s other representatives, Tanzania and Morocco are in Group D and A respectively.Morocco will also battle hosts India, the USA, and Brazil in the same group while Japan, Canada, and France complete Tanzania’s group.
The competition will run from 11th to 30th October. It was supposed to hold in 2020 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain won the last edition in 2018. They are grouped alongside Colombia, Mexico, and China.
