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Tag: Flamingos

  • U17 Women’s World Cup: Flamingos surrender to Germany after first half Miracle goal

    U17 Women’s World Cup: Flamingos surrender to Germany after first half Miracle goal

    European champions Germany on Tuesday beat Nigeria’s under-17 women’s national team 2-1 in their opening match at the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Goa, India.

    Team top goalscorer Opeyemi Ajakaye struck the woodwork in the 18th minute as the Flamingos started brightly, but defender Miracle Usani headed the rebound wide.

    However, Miracle entered the tournament’s books when she powered into the net a free-kick in the 30th minute to give Nigeria hope.

    Goalkeeper Faith Omilana came up with two great saves to preserve Nigeria’s lead as the Flamingos led 1-0 at the break.

    However, the well-drilled Germans scored twice in the second period to scoop all three points.

    Svea Stold equalised four minutes into the second half and Albert Mura added a second 12 minutes later.

    The Flamingos will be back on the turf of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday to seek the three points against New Zealand.

    Nigeria are in Group B of the competition alongside Germany, Chile and New Zealand. Nigeria will take on Chile on Monday in their third and final group phase match.

    The 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup which began on Tuesday in India will end on Oct. 30.

  • India 2022: FIFA female U-17 World Cup gets underway today

    India 2022: FIFA female U-17 World Cup gets underway today

    The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup begins in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, (today) and for India and the All India Football Federation (AIFF), it has been a long journey to get to this point.

    India were initially awarded the right to host the U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020, but COVID-19 wreaked havoc and the tournament was postponed by a year before it was eventually cancelled.

    The Nigerian team known as Flamingos will face Germany today by 4 pm Nigerian time.

    Despite their pedigree in the game, both teams have never won the cadet World Cup, and they will have high hopes of rewriting the record books in India.

    Check out some simple facts and happenings before the October 11 start of the tournament.

    March 2019: FIFA picks India as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020 ahead of France. The tournament is initially scheduled to be held in 2020 from November 2 to 21.

    November  2019:  Former Super Falcons coach, Thomas Dennerby of Sweden is appointed as the head coach of the India U-17 women’s team.

    November  2019: Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which runs the Indian Super League (ISL), conducts the U-17 Women’s Championship. The tournament features 73 players who are split into four teams. This is used as another opportunity for scouting players for the World Cup.

    December 2019: AIFF hosts a three-nation tournament at the Mumbai Football Arena, where India finished runners-up to Sweden, after beating Thailand in the group stage of the tournament.

    April  2020: FIFA announces that the U-17 Women’s World Cup will be postponed and rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    May  2020: FIFA announces that the tournament will be held from February 17 to March 7, 2021, subject to monitoring of the pandemic situation.

    November 2020: FIFA says that the 2020 edition will be cancelled. However, India retains the hosting rights for the next edition of the tournament in 2022. The age limits of the eligible players are adjusted accordingly, which means that the players scouted for the 2020 World Cup had to be let go.

    March  2022: 35 players are summoned to a camp in Jamshedpur, with then assistant coach Alex Ambrose, who was later sacked due to alleged sexual misconduct.

    Among the 35, Shilky Devi was already a part of the senior team for the AFC Asian Cup 2022, while Astam Oraon, Nitu Linda, and Lynda Kom are selected for the SAFF U-19 Championship 2021 which took place in Bangladesh in December 2021.

    April  2022: A bulk of the players initially scouted ahead of the 2020 Women’s U-17 World Cup turnout for the Indian Arrows in the Indian Women’s League.

    June  2022: After their preparatory camp in Jamshedpur, Dennerby’s team participates in the 6th Torneo Female Football Tournament, along with hosts Italy, Mexico, and Chile. India concede 12 and score just one goal in the tournament.

    June 2022: India depart to Europe to play in the Open Nordic tournament in Norway. Here, alleged sexual misconduct allegations on assistant coach Ambrose come to surface and he is sent back to India.

    July 2022: Dr. SY Quraishi, head of the three-member Committee of Administrators, which was running Indian football puts out a tweet confirming the sacking of Ambrose.

    August  2022: FIFA lifts the suspension on India, making way for the country to host the World Cup. The decision is taken after the Supreme Court of India dismantles the CoA and the day-to-day management of AIFF is led by the Acting Secretary General of the board.

    September – October 2022: The final leg of preparations for the World Cup sees the team training in Barcelona. They play against Sweden and lose 1-3, before a 17-1 win against WSS Barcelona to round off their tours before the big tournament.

    October 2022: AIFF announces a 21-member squad for the 2022 FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup.

  • Flamingos welcome Gusau with impressive friendly win in Turkey

    Flamingos welcome Gusau with impressive friendly win in Turkey

    World Cup-bound Nigeria’s U17 girls lashed leading Turkish women’s club, Galatasarary Women 3-1 in a friendly match in the Turkish town of Kocaeli on Saturday, barely 24 hours after the Congress of Nigeria Football elected Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau as the President of Nigeria Football Federation.

    Opeyemi Ajakaye scored Nigeria’s first in the 26th minute of the encounter, which was Flamingos’ first serious knock-about since arriving in Turkey on Tuesday for a 10-day training camp ahead of this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in India.

    Edidiong Etim increased the tally eight minutes later but Ebru Topliv reduced the deficit for Galatasaray just one minute before recess to ensure the half time ended 2-1 in favour of Nigeria’s glory-chasing girls.

    Etim made Nigeria’s dominance pay with her second and the Flamingos’ third in the 77th minute.

    Coach Bankole Olowookere praised the girls for the competitive spirit they showed in the match and is confident this would be a positive for the team’s campaign at the FIFA World Cup finals.

    The Flamingos will be facing one of the toughest nuts to crack when they take on Germany in their first match of the campaign in Goa on Tuesday, 11th October.

  • Indian High Commissioner felicitates with Flamingos

    Indian High Commissioner felicitates with Flamingos

    The High Commissioner of India to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Gangaharan Balasubramanian on Thursday hosted players and officials of the U17 Girls’ National Team, Flamingos at the India High Commission in Abuja.

    Players and officials of the team, which will represent Africa at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup being hosted by India 11th – 30th October, were on a visit to the High Commission to secure entry visas into India when the High Commissioner opted to have lunch with the team.

    While receiving the team, His Excellency Balasubramanian expressed his excitement: “I am very happy to see you all; it is indeed an honour to host you. I want to wish you the best of luck during the World Cup competition in India. We hope to see the next Oshoala and Ordega in this team.”

    NFF’s Director of Competition, Ruth David, who was at the head of the group to the High Commission thanked the High Commissioner for his hospitality: “On behalf of the President, Board and Management of Nigeria Football Federation, we thank the High Commissioner for this hospitality and we want to assure you that the NFF appreciates your understanding and cooperation at all times that we require the same. The Flamingos are already looking forward to being in India and to savour the beauty of the country, and also to put up a good attitude on and off the pitch.”

  • India 2022: Flamingos to play Germany, Chile and New Zealand in group stage

    Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos have been placed in Group B of this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in India, alongside women’s football powerhouse Germany, Chile and New Zealand.

     At the draw ceremony done inside the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday, hosts India are in Group A with powerhouses United States of America and Brazil, as well as African representatives Morocco. Cup holders Spain, Colombia, Mexico and China make up Group C while Group D has Japan, Tanzania, Canada and France.

     India and the United States of America will kick off the tournament officially inside the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar at 8pm India time on Tuesday, 11th October.

     The Flamingos, who missed the last tournament in Uruguay in 2018, will have a great re-integration party as they confront Germany at 8pm India time on Tuesday, 11th October (same time as the opening match) at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiun in Goa.

     Nigeria’s other matches are against New Zealand on 14th October (4.30pm) also at the Nehru Stadium in Goa, and against Chile at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on 17th October (4.30pm).

     

    GROUP A: India, USA, Morocco, Brazil

     

    GROUP B: Germany, Nigeria, Chile, New Zealand

     

    GROUP C: Spain, Colombia, Mexico, China

     

    GROUP D: Japan, Tanzania, Canada, France

     

  • India 2022: Flamingos’ to know World Cup opponents today

    Nigeria’s opponents at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals will emerge on Friday afternoon during the draw ceremony scheduled for the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

     Already, an Asiatic lioness nicknamed Ibha has been revealed as the Official Mascot of the 16-nation championship, which will hold from Friday 11th – Sunday 30th October in three Indian cities of Bhubaneswar, Goa and Navi Mumbai.

     Nigeria, Morocco and Tanzania will fly Africa’s flag, to contend for the trophy against hosts India, China, Japan, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Spain and France in the seventh edition of the biennial tournament that was launched in New Zealand 14 years ago.

     India hosted the FIFA U17 World Cup for the boys in 2018 and were slated to host the girls’ event two years ago, but the covid-19 pandemic aborted that, necessitating a postponement and scaling down of the original host cities to three.

     The Flamingos, who have featured in every tournament since 2008 bar the 2018 edition staged by Uruguay, prevailed over the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and Ethiopia on the African continent to land in India.

     On Friday, Nigeria will be in Pot 3, alongside France, USA and China (meaning they will not be in the same group with any of those three). Hosts India occupy top spot in Pot 1 alongside Japan, Spain and Germany, with Mexico, Canada, Brazil and New Zealand in Pot 2. Pot 4 comprises Tanzania (playing at their first World Cup), Chile, Colombia and Morocco.

      

  • India 2022: Sanusi congratulates Flamingos on World Cup ticket

    General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi has commended players of the U17 Girls, Flamingos for their qualification for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, following a 1-0 aggregate defeat of Ethiopia in the final round of the series.

     On Saturday, at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, the Flamingos drew 0-0 with their Ethiopian counterparts to pick the ticket to India on a 1-0 aggregate.

     Ghana’s Black Maidens ended up in tears as they lost out to Morocco’s U17 girls on penalty shootout in their final leg in North Africa. The Maidens won the first leg 2-0 but lost 2-0 in Morocco in the return leg on Saturday, and the hosts then won the shootout that followed. Nigeria and Morocco are likely to be joined by Tanzania, who hosted Cameroon on Sunday, having already won the first leg away 4-1.

     “The qualification of the Flamingos to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which follows the qualification of the U20 girls, Falconets for their own FIFA World Cup taking place in Costa Rica, underscores our attention and investment in the women’s game. The good outings of the girls are also positive messages to the girl-child in Nigeria that they can always succeed in what they do once they work hard, focus hard and approach things with diligence. I want to use this opportunity to assure Nigerians that the NFF will ensure the two teams are adequately prepared for the global challenges in India and Costa Rica respectively.

     “I have no doubt that the Super Falcons, who are campaigning in the Women AFCON next month where they are also seeking FIFA World Cup ticket, will earn their own World Cup qualification as well as retain the AFCON title.”

     The Super Falcons will commence their AFCON camping programme in Rabat in a fortnight, ahead of the competition that will take place in Morocco 2nd – 23rd July. All four semi finalists in Morocco will be eligible to represent Africa at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand next year summer.

     The Falconets will participate in the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup that takes place in Costa Rica 10th – 28th August, while the Flamingos will be one of Africa’s flag-bearers at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in India 11th – 30th October.

  • India 2022: Flamingos grab World Cup ticket

    Nigeria’s U-17 female football team  known as the Flamingos have grabbed India 2022 Worldcup ticket after playing out a 0-0 draw with Ethiopia in Abuja but won 1-0 on aggregate.

    Recall that Flamingos defeated their Ethiopia counterpart 1-0 in Addis Ababa last week in the first leg of the encounter,

    The two teams created clear cut goal scoring opportunities in the final round qualifying fixture, but were let down by their poor marksmanship.

    The Flamingos later took control of the game, but were unable to find a way past the Ethiopian goalkeeper, who made a number of superb saves.

    Taiwo Afolabi, Miracle Usani and Omowunmi Bello all spurned good chances for the Nigerian girls.

    Flamingos goalkeeper Faith Omilana also had to be at her best to deny the Ethiopians a couple of times.

    Bankole Olowookere’s side didn’t concede a goal in their qualifying series.

     

    The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is slated to hold in India from October 11 to 30, 2022.

  • India 2022: Olowookere says his girls are determined to do Nigeria proud by winning

    Head Coach Bankole Olowookere has said that his Nigeria U17 girls, Flamingos are inspired by the desire to make Nigerians happy by earning a ticket to the FIFA World Cup finals, as they confront Ethiopia U17 girls in a final round, final leg match at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday.

     

    “Our main objective is to do Nigeria proud, make Nigerians happy with the World Cup ticket. We will not under-rate the Ethiopians because they are a good team who also qualified to this stage. We defeated them 1-0 in their country but that does not mean we should assume the ticket is won. We must work hard and keep our heads until the referee’s final whistle. No match ends until it is called to an end by the referee.

     

    “We are focused on the task at hand. The Ethiopians have shown a flair for playing better on away ground and that is one thing we have taken on board. The best approach will be to keep the ball away from them while we do the playing. We have been working on that since we returned from Addis Ababa and I believe we have the energy and the stamina for that approach.”

     

    The Flamingos have scored a total of 15 goals in this qualifying campaign, conceding none. They scored a total of eight goals in a two-leg blizzard against the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then shot six past Egypt in Abuja and Cairo. The rearguard and goalkeeper Faith Omilana have stolidly maintained a pristine record.

     

    Aggregate victory over the Ethiopians, who turned back Uganda and South Africa in earlier rounds, would mean a direct flight to India for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals – the seventh edition since the competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008. The finals in India will hold 11th – 30th October.

     

    Olowookere will bank principally on the twin-attack force of Opeyemi Ajakaiye and Aminat Omowunmi Bello – who between them have scored nine of the team’s goals in their five matches so far. Ajakaiye is ahead with six goals while Bello has three.

     

  • India 2022: Flamingos set to battle Ethiopia for World Cup ticket

     Nigeria is set to pick up another FIFA World Cup ticket in women’s football as the U17 Girls, Flamingos go up against their Ethiopian counterparts in the final round, final leg of their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup fixture at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday.

     The Flamingos won the first leg in Addis Ababa penultimate weekend 1-0, with a strike by goal-a-game forward Opeyemi Ajakaiye, who now has six goals in the campaign.

     Officials for the big match are scheduled to arrive Nigeria on Thursday, led by Senegalese referee Mame Coumba Faye, who will take charge of proceedings. She will be assisted by compatriots Adia Isseu Cisse (assistant referee 1), Fatou Bintou Sene (assistant referee 2) and Fatou Thioune (fourth official).

     The match commissioner is Aisha Nalule from Uganda while Emmanuella Grace Aglago from Ghana will serve as the referee assessor.

     The winner on aggregate will pick one of Africa’s tickets to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in India, already scheduled for 11th – 30th October.

     Since the competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to qualify to participate in only tournament – the 2018 finals held in Uruguay.