The Africans have never reached the semifinal of the cadet Mundial since its inception fourteen years ago
Head coach of Nigeria’s u17 women’s national team Bankole Olowookere has set the target of reaching new heights at the ongoing FIFA u17 Women’s World Cup
Nigeria have equalled their best outing at the tournament by reaching the quarterfinals of the Mundial.
The Flamingos finished runners-up in Group B to get to that stage after beating New Zealand and Chile and suffering a loss to Germany.
They will be the underdogs when meeting Group A winners the United States for a place in the semifinal. The match is scheduled for the DY Patil Stadium on Friday.
And coach Olowookere is keen to shoot down the United States and help Nigeria reach the semifinals for the first time in history.
“As a coach, I have achieved getting to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but as Nigeria, we have not reached the final journey,” Olowookere stated on NFF TV.
“The best we have ever gotten at the U-17 Women’s World Cup is the quarter-final stage; I’m here to create a lot of upsets and set new records.
“We need to work hard to get to the semi-final and set a new record for the U-17 team.”
He added, “We respect the USA team; they are a superpower in female football. I am watching them closely; they play well and score many goals. I have to be careful about playing them.
“I am going for the win, but I have to look at our loopholes and try to correct some of the things we are not doing right. By the time we are done with all these, we’ll have what it takes to defeat the USA.”
Nigeria reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
