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Anthony Nlebem.
The head coach of Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowookere, has assured Nigerians that the Flamingos will bounce back against New Zealand, after Tuesday’s opening 2-1 defeat to Germany at the U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
The Flamingos clash with New Zealand in a must-win battle at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday to guarantee their chances of advancing from Group B.
Olowookere said the girls had learnt their lessons from the defeat and were ready to take on the New Zealanders.
“We lost concentration (against Germany), we were forced to play their pattern, although the Germans were forcing themselves on us. If we had maintained our style of play, we would have won,” Olowookere was quoted as saying on NFF Twitter handle.
The coach is, however, confident about Nigeria’s chances of qualifying for the next round.
Olowookere added, “Yes we will qualify, we planned to win the German game, but in football you win, draw and you lose.
“Unfortunately, we lost our first game, we are going to work hard and block the loopholes, so, we will be able to forge ahead. We need to win our next match to keep ourselves afloat in the tournament.
“I will play my role with other technical crew members to encourage the girls and make them believe that hope is not lost. We still have two more games to play and we just have to give it our all to make sure that Nigeria flies its flag high in this tournament.”
Chile defeated New Zealand 3-1 to top Group B with three points, with +2 goals advantage, Germany are second with three points (+1 goal advantage), while Nigeria are third on the log, with New Zealand are bottom.