…I’m not bothered about missed chances – Flamingos coach
Head coach of Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowookere, has assured Nigerians that the Flamingos will secure qualification for the upcoming FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco by getting a favourable result in Algeria.
The Flamingos delivered a dominant performance on Saturday, thrashing the Fennecs of Algeria 4-0 in the first leg of their final qualifying fixture at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State.
Nigeria struck early, netting three quick goals in the first half by capitalizing on Algeria’s disorganized defense. However, despite creating several opportunities, they had to wait until the dying minutes of the match to score their fourth goal.
The Algerian side, after a shaky first half, regrouped and managed to control the midfield in the second half—an indication of the challenge Nigeria may face in the return leg at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida on Friday night.
More Read
Despite their heavy first-leg defeat, Algerian head coach Abednour Mira remains optimistic. He believes his team can overturn the deficit and snatch the World Cup ticket from Nigeria, drawing confidence from past comebacks.
“We lost 2-1 in the first leg against Botswana, but we came back and won 4-0 in the second leg—and we could have scored even more,” Mira said after the match in Ikenne. “Today’s second-half performance gives me hope. If we’re talking about a ‘Remontada’, the logic is there. In football, anything is possible.”
Flamingos coach Olowookere, however, remains focused and confident ahead of the second leg.
“We hoped to wrap it up in Nigeria and make the return leg easier, but we were only able to score four. We would have loved to get five or six, but keeping a clean sheet was important,” he said during the post-match press conference.
“If we can score four goals at home, what’s stopping us from scoring one or two in Algeria? And don’t forget—away goals still count in Africa, and that could be decisive.”
Acknowledging Algeria’s second-half improvement, Olowookere added: “Yes, they were better after the break, but they’re not better than us. We missed a lot of chances. I respect my opponents, but if they’re banking on a comeback, let them keep talking—talk is cheap.
“It would be foolish of me to go to Algeria and disappoint over 200 million Nigerians who are counting on us. The girls are aware of the task, and we’ll give everything to ensure the nation is proud after 90 minutes.”
The girls were guilty of missing several chances, but Olowookere says he is happy with the fact that they can create a lot of chances and convert some.
“The most important question is, do we create chances? Yes. Do we convert these chances? The answer is yes. We’ve seen people play games, but they can’t even have one shot on target or threaten opponents. So, let’s appreciate these little girls,” the Flamingos coach added.
“One of my coaching philosophies is to create a lot of chances and put some in the net. Scoring four goals is okay for us, where they make mistakes, we will find ways to correct them and some of them can work more on them when they go back to their respective teams but as far as I’m concerned, if we create up to 10 chances and convert four, it is okay for me.”
In addition to the prestige of qualifying for the World Cup, the team has also been promised financial rewards. The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, has pledged a cash gift of ₦6 million, while business mogul Kunle Soname—owner of Remo Stars, Bet9ja, and ValueJet Airlines—has also promised a ₦4 million reward for the team.
© Bold Media Innovations & Creative Hub Limited. All rights reserved. If sharing, kindly credit Bold Sports as the source and include a link to the original post. Unauthorised use is prohibited.
