Flamingoes Target U-17 World Cup

A striker with the na
tional Under-17 women team, Chinwe Ihezuo, has assured Nigerians that the team would win all their matches at the forthcoming FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Ihezuo gave the assurance in a statement issued by the team’s Media Officer, Jennifer Okoye, from Faro in Portugal, where the team are currently camping in preparation for the mundial.
Nigerian team are on a 19-day training tour in Portugal as part of their final phase of preparations.
The competition is scheduled to hold from March 15 to April 4 in Costa Rica, with Nigeria drawn in Group D alongside Mexico, Colombia and China for the first round.
The statement said Ihezuo was confident the team, also known as the Flamingoes, will not only participate but make a big impact in the three-week tournament.
“The team will win in spite of our 0-0 draw against the Belgian under-17 side in a friendly match at the Alles Des Sports Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.
“We played against a good side, but we were unlucky. We did very well, even though we were too anxious to score and therefore missed many chances.
“The weather was not too friendly as it was very cold and did affect our performance.
“But we are assuring Nigerians that we will not only  participate, but do our possible best to win all our matches and make them proud in Costa Rica,’’ Ihezuo said.
Flamingoes failed during the match to get a goal, and it was the first time after playing nine friendly matches to prepare them for the World Cup.
In Costa Rica, the Nigerian side will face China on March 16, before facing Colombia on March 19, with both matches taking place in Alajuela.
They will thereafter proceed to San Jose to take on Mexico on March 23 in their last Group D match.