Nigeria’s U17
girls, Flamingos, are firm and ready to pick the ticket for the country’s
eighth appearance at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, despite the
predictably-cold atmosphere of the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida (outside
Algiers), on Friday night.
Friday’s encounter
against their Algerian counterparts is the final leg of a final qualifying
round fixture, with the Flamingos, bronze-medallists from the 2022 finals in
India and quarter-finalists from the last edition in the Dominican Republic,
holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage.
The Federation
Algerienne de Football (FAF) has scheduled the match to kick off at 8pm, at a
time that the winds will begin to blow in stronger from the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the
Flamingos, who arrived in Algiers in the early hours of Wednesday aboard a
Turkish Airline flight from Istanbul, are highly inspired by the imminence of
another FIFA World Cup ticket as well as further financial windfall from the
Nigeria Football Federation and billionaire business mogul Kunle Soname.
Soname gifted the
young players and their officials the sum of N4million (one million naira for
every goal) following their commanding win over the North Africans at the Remo
Stars Stadium on Saturday, while the NFF gave out the sum of N2million (five hundred
thousand naira for every goal).
President of NFF,
Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau and Hon. Soname have both confirmed that the same
financial incentives are in place for the second leg in Blida on Friday.
“Our objective is
clear – to win the FIFA World Cup ticket. That is the big motivation. Yet, we
have been further incentivized by the monetary rewards. My girls will go all
out on Friday night,” Head Coach Bankole Olowookere said.
Olowookere, who
led the Flamingos to their last two World Cup ventures, will most likely rely
on first-leg two-goal heroine Queen Joseph, lone-goal scorer Zainab Raji and
Kaosarat Olanrewaju to start at the fore, with Shakirat Moshood, Muinat Rotimi
and Philomena Isaiah supplying the passes from the midfield. Goalkeeper and
captain Christiana Uzoma and defenders Azeezat Oduntan, Hannah Ibrahim,
Christiana Sunday and Jumai Adebayo are also likely to start.
The Confederation
of African Football has selected Cameroonian official Marie Noelle Etong to be
the referee, with her compatriots Marcelle Teikeu and Innocentia Ntangti as
assistant referee 1 and fourth official respectively, while Chadian Ngarassoum
Victorine will be assistant referee 2.
Oumou Souleymane
Kane from Mauritania will be commissioner and Sabelo Maphosa-Sibindi from
Zimbabwe will be in the role of referee assessor.
PHOTO: Joy is
coming! From left, Zainab Raji, Shakirat Moshood, Queen Joseph, Muinat Rotimi
and Azeezat Oduntan celebrate one of the goals in their 4-0 win over Algeria in
Ikenne-Remo on Saturday.
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