Nigeria’s U-17 women’s football team, the Flamingos, have qualified for the quarter-final of the 2024 World Cup
The Nigerian team defeated Ecuador 4-0 at the Estadio Cibao in the Dominican Republic.
For the second consecutive match, the Flamingos scored four goals in the women’s World Cup as they qualified for the knockout stage with a game to spare.
Nigeria broke the deadlock very early with Shakira Moshood’s spot kick in the 28th minute after captain Taiwo Afolabi was fouled in the opponent’s box.
The lead extended till the second half for the Nigerian side who doubled the goal in the 54th minute with Harmony Chidi’s solo effort that went to the bottom right corner. It was Chidi’s, the highest goalscorer during the qualifiers’ first goal in the tournament after the VAR had cancelled her goal five minutes earlier.
Nigeria then got the third in the 66th minute after the Ecuadorian defender Maria Zambrano’s pass to goalkeeper Melany Pozo was wrongly cleared off to give Peace Effiong a chance to slot the ball into an empty net.
Moshood then scored a brace in the 96th minute from Chidi Harmony’s assist to put Nigeria in the first position with six points.
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Speaking after the game, coach Bankole Olowokere, appreciated the support of Nigerians and his girls for keeping the fights.
“All thanks to my players for approaching the game tactically. They are kids. There are reasons for them to calm down from anxiety. I told them to follow the game plan and they yielded. They listened and the goals were just coming.
Olowokere thanked Nigerians who stayed up late to watch the girls, he said, “We want to thank them for the vigil; it’s the promise we made to them and we are keeping it.”
Meanwhile, Striker Chidi Harmony, who was voted the player of the match after scoring her debut goal in the competition and creating an assist for Moshood’s brace, said the encouragement from her teammates and coaches helped her to shrug off the poor performance in her first game.
“It’s not by my strength to do well; if not for my teammates, coach and God, I wouldn’t have been voted as the man of the match. I don’t believe I will be the man of the match.”
“I don’t know how to express it. All over me, there is joy. Even when it was like it wasn’t working, you see my coach and fellow players encouraging me to do well. We will make it count for you people,” she promised.
Nigeria will be playing their final group stage game against host Dominican Republic on Wednesday, 23rd November.
