The FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals this year are being held in the Dominican Republic, and on Wednesday night, Nigeria’s U17 ladies, the Flamingos, will be playing their rivals from New Zealand.
Nigeria and New Zealand will play at the CFC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros at 4 p.m. local time (9 p.m. in Nigeria), while the host country and Ecuador will play at 9 p.m. local time (2 a.m. on Thursday in Nigeria).
Coach on Flamingos
The Flamingos, who took home the bronze in the most recent championship held in India, are hoping to advance farther this time around, and Head Coach Bankole Olowookere is adamant that his team has what it takes to overcome any obstacles in their path.
He said, “I have confidence in the girls to deliver the goods at this competition. We have come well-prepared to do even better than we did in India.
“The Nigeria Football Federation have done everything to prepare the team well, with a two-week final camping here in Dominican Republic.
“We do not under-rate any of our opponents. However, we will take it one match at a time and produce our best in each game in order to go all the way.”
The FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in Uruguay in 2018 were the only tournament the Flamingos had missed out on.
The Nigerian ladies scored 25 goals in six games during their qualifying campaign for this year’s finals, with 13 of those goals coming from deadly striker Harmony Chidi.
Following Wednesday night’s match against New Zealand, the Flamingos will play the Ecuadorians at the CFC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros.
This will be followed by their last group stage match against the host country at Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo.
The game against Ecuador is scheduled for Saturday, October 19, while the match against the host country is scheduled for Tuesday, October 22.
