By Amaechi Agbo
The Acting General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, has commended players and officials of the U17 women national team, Flamingos, for their excellent outing at the just-concluded WAFU-B U17 Girls Cup in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, which saw the team lifting the trophy.
The squad, led by Coach Akeem Busari, on Sunday morning defeated their Togolese counterparts 4-0 to emerge champions of the tournament, in the process winning all their five matches, scoring a total of 17 goals, and conceding only two.
Captain Harmony Chidi netted twice from the penalty spot in the first period, before Oluebube Umejiaku and Oluwakemi Adegbuyi scored in the 67th and 90th minutes respectively. Busari’s maidens routed their counterparts from Niger Republic 5-0 in their first match, defeated eternal rivals Ghana 4-2, bumped Burkina Faso 2-0 and swept past hosts Cote d’Ivoire 2-0 before Sunday’s commanding win over Togo.
“The Flamingos have done very well, made the nation proud and I have this faith in the players that they are not done yet. I have confidence in the team to go to Morocco and achieve great things at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup that is starting next month.
“It is no mean feat to win five matches out of five in a tournament. That is a distinction. The NFF is appreciative of the WAFU-B headquarters for organising the tournament as a premium preparatory event for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, and I believe the Flamingos have benefitted immensely ahead of the global competition,” Ikpeme said.
The victorious 2022 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup bronze-medallists will return to Nigeria on Tuesday.
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