“90% of them are local” – Falconets coach Danjuma lauds homegrown Nigerian talents after big Venezuela win

Nigeria’s U20 women’s head coach, Christopher Danjuma, has expressed his admiration for his young squad after they secured a convincing 4-0 victory over Venezuela in the group stages of the 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports. 

The impressive victory was Nigeria’s second win at the tournament, guaranteeing the Falconets a place in the Round of 16, and continuing their strong campaign in Colombia.

Danjuma praised the performance of his largely homegrown team, with 90% of the players coming from Nigeria’s local league.

“It’s a fantastic feeling, and we don’t want to just win but also to play good football,” Danjuma told FIFA.

“We have a lot of talents that we want the world to see, and this is an opportunity to see those talents because 90% of them are from the local league, they are not professionals coming from anywhere in Europe.”

Flourish Sabastine, one of the standout players, was named Player of the Match after scoring Nigeria’s third goal.

It was the young winger’s second goal of the tournament, having previously netted the winner in the Falconets’ 1-0 victory over South Korea.

Sabastine is the second Nigerian player to win this individual accolade, following Philomina Addo Yina’s recognition in the game against Korea.

Another rising star is Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, whose impressive performance against Venezuela included an assist for Amina Bello’s opener and a well-taken header to make it 2-0. Okuchukwu, it would be recalled, scored Nigeria’s consolation goal in their 3-1 loss to Germany.

Joy Igbokwe sealed the win over Venezuela with a stunning 40-yard strike in stoppage time.

Nigeria’s strong showing places them second in their group, setting up a knockout clash with either Japan or Austria, while Venezuela’s exit leaves them still searching for their first win at the U20 Women’s World Cup.

It is Nigeria’s tenth time advancing to the tournament’s knockout stages.