The Flamingos and Germany will face off in the third-place play-off of the U-17 Women’s World Cup in India on Sunday (today).
The third-place match is scheduled to take place at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai by 12pm Nigeria time.
Flamingos will be looking avenge a 2-1 loss suffered in their opening Group B match of the tournament.
Head coach of the team, Bankole Olowookere has assured that the Flamingos have a lot to play for in the third place.
“All is not lost, if we can put our heads together, we can still get something in the third-place match,” he said.
For Nigeria, this will be a historic World Cup outing irrespective of the result, because it will be its best-ever performance in the U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Flamingos defeated favourites USA in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-final of the tournament only to lose 6-5 on penalties to Colombia, after full-time scores ended goalless in Goa, India last Wednesday.
The final match between defending champion Spain and Colombia will also hold on Sunday at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai by 3:30pm Nigeria time.
Meanwhile, former Super Falcons coach, Godwin Izilien, admnits that the Flamingos will need a bit of luck to prevail in the third place match as they have not been convincing in India.
“I watched their two matches, Flamingos were lucky to get to the semi-finals, I don’t know if the luck will still be with us in the third place, in terms of performance, the Germans are better, but if we are lucky, we might carry the day, Izilien told The DOPEEXCLUSIVE.
“Both teams have seen themselves and they can know the strong and weak side of their opponents, if they are smart enough they will capitalise on it.”
Izilien, who led Nigeria to African Women’s Championship glory in South Africa, in 2004 advised the girls to put behind them the defeat to Colombia and avoid mistakes and work hard to convert their chances.
“We lost the match because of one or two mistakes. Our girls don’t know what to do with the ball when they have it, and when they lose possession, they don’t know how to get it back.
“We need to talk to the girls, the only way out since it is the last match of the tournament is to mark the space at the opponent and take advantage of the slightest opportunity.”
