Christopher Danjuma, head coach of the Nigeria’s U20 women national football team, Falconets has assured Nigerians that his girls will go all the way in search of triumph over their Mexican counterparts when both sides clash in a friendly game on the turf of Club Banco de la República in Bogota on Monday evening.
“Our victory over Australia was such a sweet one, but I have told the ladies to drive it into the recesses of their minds and concentrate on Monday’s encounter. We need another victory to sustain our winning mentality. We won five of our six qualifying matches with healthy score lines and have now added victory over the Australians to boot.
“As I keep saying at every turn, the FIFA World Cup finals here will not be easy. The fact that we are up against Korea Republic and three-time winners Germany in our first two matches means we need to be at our best physically, mentally and psychologically. Physically and mentally, I believe we are in shape. Psychologically, we are good, and we will be great if we defeat the Mexicans to go into the competition unbeaten.”
In the African qualifying race, the Falconets routed their counterparts from Central African Republic 6-0 each in Douala and Abuja, sent packing Burkina Faso with a 1-1 draw in Bamako and 6-0 spanking in Abuja, and dismissed Liberia 4-1 in Monrovia and 2-0 in Abuja, in the process scoring 25 goals and conceding only two.
On Friday, the 2010 and 2014 silver medallists edged the Aussies 2-1 in regulation time, and then won a subsequent penalty shootout that happened at the instance of the Australian delegation.
The clash with the Mexicans, who are expected to provide much-stiffer opposition (having missed only one edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals since it started in 2002), will kickoff at 3.30pm Colombia time (9.30pm Nigeria time).
Danjuma’s squad from the qualifiers is now boosted by the presence of a number of players who have seen action with the Nigeria senior team, Super Falcons, including defenders Jumoke Alani, Rofiat Imuran, Comfort Folorunsho and forwards Opeyemi Ajakaye, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu and Flourish Sabastine. Folorunsho and Ajakaye were in the Nigeria U17 squad that finished in third place at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in India two years ago. Other members of that squad also with the Falconets in Colombia are goalkeeper Faith Omilana and forward Aminat Omowunmi Bello.
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