By Oviri Kelvin
Flamingos are to play Ethiopia in the final and last round to qualify for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup hosted by India in October.
The Nigeria U17 female team displaced the Egyptians in Cairo at the Petrosport Stadium with a 2-0 win to slate a tie with the Ethiopians who won South Africa on goals aggregate.
Flamingos first humiliated the North Africans in the first leg of the qualifying tie at the MKO Abiola National Stadium with four unreplied goals, before sealing the thunderous victory at Cairo, yesterday, with two first-half goals to proceed to the final and deciding tie with the East Africans.
Ethiopia defeated South Africa 3-0 in the first leg of the qualifying tie in Johannesburg and fell to a lone-goal defeat in the second leg to South Africa in Addis Ababa, but qualified on aggregate to face Nigeria. Ethiopia on its campaign to the final round had played Uganda in a competitive clash that ended 3-3 on aggregate but proceeded on away goal rule.
Despite Flamingos yet to concede a goal in all the qualifying matches, they parade the highest goal scorer, 2Opeyemi Ajakaiye, in the qualifying series with five goals. Ajaikaye’s record of five goals results from scoring in all the four qualifying matches with a brace against the Congolese.
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However, U17 head coach Bankole Olowookere after the win against Egypt, praised the team’s performance while he lamented that the home support and unfavourable weather condition made the game a bit tough.
Olowookere conveyed that the Flamingos were able to dislodge the Egyptians in the last explosive minutes by sticking with his tactics and adhering to instructions.
The U17 gaffer revealed that ahead of the last round, he is going to formulate match tactics after doing a proper assessment of the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. The first leg of the Nigeria/ Ethiopia final round fixture will hold on 21st May, with the second leg taking place two weeks later.
