Nigeria’s U-17 girls have woven their way into the semi-finals - Photo Courtesy Google.
Nigeria’s U-17 girls have woven their way into the semifinals of the WAFU ZONE B Girls Cup with some breathtaking performances.
The Flamingoes recorded a massive win in their opening fixture - pummeling Niger by 9-0 at the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence. They followed it up with a nerve wracking 3-2 victory against a resilient Ivory Coast - topping group B with 6 points.
Their semifinal opponent on Thursday are Benin who lost their double header against Ghana but booked the semis due to Burkina Faso’s eleventh hour withdrawal. Nigeria head coach, Olowokeere Bankole spoke at a pre-match press conference ahead of the game.
“Talking about Bénin, they are a good side, I give respect to every team I want to play before the game. But when the game starts, that respect we push the respect aside in the sense that, that will give me reason to plan for the game.
“If complacency sets in you pay dearly for it and so I don’t allow that to be on me. I’ve seen them play two leg matches against the Ghana side, I saw them in the first match and they were struggling in the first half and they conceded a lot of goals.
“But coming into the second half they reduced the tally and were able to hold themselves. Coming to the second match, they were able to stand neck to neck with the Ghana side.
“So it is not a team that you can just underrate and they follow the rules of the game so as they play they improve so going to the semifinals, I don’t expect the same way they played in the group stage of the game so I’m expecting a very tough game,” Olowokeere Bankole said.
Nigeria would meet rivals, Ghana or Ivory Coast in the finals if they overpower Benin.
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