Nigerians on Tuesday charged the national U-20 female team, the Falconets to prove their mettle at the second round of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers this weekend.

The Falconets qualified for the second round of the qualifiers following the withdrawal of Sierra Leone from the competition and would now host Zimbabwe in the first leg in Abeokuta.

The World Cup will hold in Japan from August 18 to September 8.

The fans said in Lagos that the team should not underrate the  Zimbabweans as smaller nations were the ones dominating football now.

Former Super Falcons player, Gift Showemimo, said the Falconets should prove that without the withdrawal of the Sierra Leoneans, they could defeat any team to reach the World Cup.

She said the 29 girls called to camp in Abuja should always adhere to the advice of their coach, reminding them that Nigerians were looking up to them.

The Coordinator, Nigeria Women Premier League (NWPL), Danlami Alanana, commended the list of the players submitted by Coach Edwin Okon, saying it showed there was hope for the league.

Alanana said the girls should not let the country down at the qualifier because “if we miss this qualifier, it will undermine the home-based players,’’ he said.

He said they should not see Zimbabwe as a novice in football, noting also that that the so called inexperienced football countries were surprising the experienced ones.

“We can see what happened at the Africa Cup of Nations, countries we least expected showed up at the tournament and defeated stronger nations. Zambia even won the Cup, so what are we saying?

“Our girls should learn from this and not underestimate any team, we should play like we are already at the FIFA World Cup,’’ he said.

The match will hold at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta.