Colourful traditional dancers, flag-waving enthusiasts and members of the Local Organizing Committee of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024 were among the excited crowd that welcomed two-time silver medallists Nigeria to the Colombian capital, Bogota on Sunday evening.
Exhausted but fascinated by the pomp and pageantry, the Falconets, who landed at the El Dorado International Airport after a 13-hour flight from Istanbul in Turkey, lapped up the reception and showed appreciation to the motley crowd.
After a light training session on Monday to shake off jet lag, the Nigeria U20 girls will on Tuesday intensify their preparations for a strong challenge at winning the trophy. Coach Christopher Musa Danjuma told local journalists at the airport in Bogota that the Falconets are determined to go all the way this time, having logged two Final-Match appearances, a semi-final appearance and several quarter-final berths in the 22-year-old tournament.
“We have the mandate and support of the Government and people of Nigeria to come here and give it our best fight-and-push. Our Sports Minister reminded us of the fact that Nigeria finished second in 2010 and 2014, and reached the semi finals in 2012. He charged us to come back with the trophy this time, and that is our objective.”
The Falconets’ final phase of preparation for the 23-day championship will include tough tests against Australia and Mexico. They go up against the Australians on Friday, 23rd August, and then confront the Mexicans three days later.
The girls from Mexico will be featuring in the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup for the 10th time, having missed one previous championship, while Nigeria is one of only four countries (the others being USA, Brazil and Germany) to have played in every final tournament since the competition was launched as an U19 event in Canada in 2002.
With the competition having only this year been upgraded to a 24-nation-finals, nearly half of the finalists are debutants. These are Austria, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, Fiji, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Thailand, Cameroon and Morocco.
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