Head coach of the Flamingos, Bankole Olowokeere has urged Nigerian fans to come out in support of the team as they face South Africa’s Bantwana in the second leg of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifier on Saturday, March 15.
Nigeria’s Flamingos hold a commanding 3-1 lead over South Africa’s Bantwana after the first leg of their qualifier match in Pretoria, courtesy of goals from Chidi Harmony and Shakirat Moshood. The Nigerian U17 girls will however aim to seal their advantage when they host the second leg at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne.
The winner of the tie will progress to the final round of the qualifiers, where they will meet either Botswana or Algeria, with the opportunity to secure a spot in the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, representing Africa alongside the host nation and three other teams.
In a pre-match interview with Victor Ademola, Bankole Olowokeere expressed gratitude to the supporters for their backing in the first leg and now calls on them to turn out in large numbers, waving the Nigerian flag, to propel the team to victory.
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“I want to use this opportunity to say thank you to all my Nigerian people for their unwavering support when we went away to South Africa. Both the people in Nigeria here and the people we met over there, they gave us massive support, drumming for us and cheering us all through which gave us the ginger to achieve the great exploit in South Africa,” the head coach said.
“As much as I’ve said that, we still want the best of them to come tomorrow, we want them to come in full support. This is our Nigeria, this is our country and we need to be at the World Cup. The World Cup is sweet and I think it’s going to be sweet for every one of us too so we need the support.”
“Again I want to make a passionate appeal to all Nigerians who will come to the stadium on Saturday to try as much as possible to get the Nigerian Flag. The gate is free but the only ticket to enter is the flag. All around the whole stadium we want to see our flag flying, to raise Nigeria high so that we come out victorious,” Olowokeere added.
“I assure you once you do that, we will play our own part to put a smile on the face of all Nigerians. We are going to celebrate, we are going to the World Cup no doubt about that. South Africa cannot disturb us. We are not relenting on the first away win, but we have 90 minutes to wrap up the game and move to the next step because we want to be at the Word Cup and South Africa cannot stop us,” he declared confidently.
The crucial game will take place at the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne by 4pm and the Flamingos only need a draw to secure qualification to the next round, boosting their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup.
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