Head coach of Nigeria’s Flamingos, Bankole Olowookere, expressed his gratitude to Nigerians after his team’s victory over New Zealand, Soccernet.ng reports.
Olowookere’s girls secured a resounding 4-1 victory over Young Football Ferns in their opening game of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.
The gaffer took to his social media page to extend his gratitude to those who have come out to support them in the game and hoped for more positive result in the campaign.
“We kicked off our campaign in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic with an impressive 4-1 win against New Zealand,” Olowookere said. “I’m grateful for your support, Nigerians. Let’s hope for more positive results ahead.”
The Flamingos made their intentions clear early in the match. Shakirat Moshood opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, followed by a second goal from Taiwo Adegoke in the 13th minute. Fareedat Abdulwaheeb added a third with a well-placed lob in the 28th minute, leaving New Zealand trailing 3-0 at halftime.
Captain Taiwo Afolabi extended the lead to 4-0 ten minutes into the second half, before New Zealand’s Hannah Saxon pulled one back in the 60th minute.
Despite some late efforts from the New Zealand team, Nigeria’s dominant display saw them maintain their advantage until the final whistle.
The Flamingos of Nigeria will now turn their focus to their next game against Ecuador on Saturday, where they aim to build on this excellent start.
Kindly use the right pictures for the proposed posts as the picture attached to this news is not Coach Bankole. Thank you for your understanding.
A very good start to the competition. But the Flamingoes need to be sharp in front of goal. The scoreline could have been much high if they converted their chances. They had 33 shots on goal and 10 shots on target, with only 4 goals to show for it. They had 68% of the possession and completed 528 passes, with 12 coner kicks, but only managed to convert 1 corner into goal. New Zealand had only 1 shot at goal and scored. Wish them luck in next matches. God bless Nigeria and Nigerians, Amen.