How Flamingos Turned Poland Defeat Into Historic World Cup Glory – Busari

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s team coach, Hakeem Busari, has revealed how the technical crew turned the Flamingos’ opening defeat to Poland into a turning point in their historic FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign.

Busari said rather than blame or intimidate the young players after their 2-1 loss to Poland, the coaching staff chose to encourage them, analyse their mistakes and strengthen their tactical understanding, a decision that helped Nigeria recover and go on to win the tournament.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sports at the team’s hotel in Abuja on Tuesday, the coach attributed the historic achievement to tactical discipline, effective player management and the players’ willingness to follow instructions.

He said he had been confident of a strong showing even before the tournament, following Nigeria’s impressive performances in the qualifying campaign, where they defeated Guinea 11-1 on aggregate and subsequently won all their matches at the WAFU tournament.

“As a coach, I believed we were going to go far in the tournament, looking at what we did in the qualifiers,” Busari said.

However, he admitted that the defeat to Poland presented an early challenge, requiring the technical crew to adopt a different approach to motivate the players.

“We sat down with the players and talked. You don’t need to bully them at that point because they are young and they will learn from their mistakes,” he said.
Busari explained that the coaching staff also placed considerable emphasis on tactical preparation, particularly ahead of their crucial semi-final encounter against Brazil.

According to him, the technical crew studied Brazil’s formations, strengths and weaknesses before deciding on the best approach to contain the South American side.

He disclosed that Brazil alternated between a 3-5-2 formation, while Nigeria adopted either a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 system, depending on the demands of the game.

“With this formation, we knew their areas of strength and their weaknesses. So it all came down to tactics and the energy we put into the game,” he explained.

The coach also identified tactical discipline and the players’ ability to understand when to attack and defend as crucial elements behind Nigeria’s success.

“The girls knew when to go on the offence and when to defend. I was dishing out instructions on the touchline and they followed them,” he added.

Reflecting on the achievement, Busari expressed delight at the players’ response to the technical crew’s guidance and their determination to overcome the disappointment of their opening defeat.

“I feel elated and happy for what we have achieved,” he said.

The Flamingos recovered from their opening loss to Poland by defeating Puerto Rico, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mexico and Venezuela before overcoming Brazil in the semi-finals.

They subsequently defeated Japan 2-1 in the final to become the first African nation to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, sealing a historic achievement for Nigerian and African women’s football.