Nigeria vs New Zealand as FIFA Under17 Women’s World Cup begins

By Mark Ogagan

Nigeria’s Under17 women’s national team, Flamingos will be gunning for maximum points when they take on New Zealand on Wednesday night in the first match of this year’s FIFA Under17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.

Although the game between host nation Dominican Republic and Ecuador (the other fixture in Group A) is billed as the opening match, Nigeria and New Zealand will do battle at the CFC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros from 4pm local time (9pm in Nigeria), while the host nation and Ecuador will square up as from 9pm local time (2am Thursday in Nigeria).

The Flamingos, who were bronze medalists in the last edition of the competition in India, are aiming to go farther this time, with Head Coach Bankole Olowookere insisting that he has the ammunition to overcome opponents on their way.

“I have confidence in the girls to deliver the goods at this competition. We have come well-prepared to do even better than we did in India. The Nigeria Football Federation have done everything to prepare the team well, with a two-week final camping here in Dominican Republic.

“We do not under-rate any of our opponents. However, we will take it one match at a time and produce our best in each game in order to go all the way.”

The Flamingos have previously missed taking part in only one edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals – the 2018 finals in Uruguay.

Nigeria will play its second group game against Ecuador on Saturday, 19th October, also at the CFC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros, before their final group phase game against the host nation at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo on Tuesday.