Nigeria is the only African nation to qualify for every edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, since the competition began in 2002.
by Marabou News Agency
The Nigeria U20 women’s national team, the Falconets has stepped up training ahead of this year’s edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup tournament in Poland, from September 5-27.
Nigeria, Tanzania, Benin and Ghana will represent Africa in the biennial competition. No African team has ever won the FIFA U20 women’s World Cup title in the tournament’s 24-year history, with the four teams now having the burden of re-writing history.
The Falconets are by far the most successful African team in the tournament, having finished runners up against Germany in both 2010 and 2014. Other past African representatives included Ghana and DRC who exited in the group stage.
In Abuja, the Nigerian squad is going through the paces to be ready, with residential training having commenced four weeks ago.
Moses Aduku, the team’s head coach in an interview with Marabou News Agency believes it is possible for Nigerian or any other African team to win the World Cup.
Their target, is coming back with the World Cup trophy despite it being a tough task.
“I think mentality is important right now and we have been working on that, and the girls are getting it right. We are telling them that it is possible to win the World Cup. Yeah, training is good but the mentality must be 100% and we have been working hard with them, and I think one game at a time,” the coach said.
Captain Joy Igbokwe said they will go to Poland and give their best with a view of making Nigerians and Africans proud.
“Our goal is to go to Poland and give our best and come back with the Cup. We have great peers in the team, from the U17 to the U20 and we are good to go. We are young, we are determined, we are focused.”
The Falconets secured qualification to the U20 World Cup after an impressive qualifying campaign. They registered a 5-0 aggregate win over Rwanda in the second round before edging Senegal 3-2.
They then sealed their ticket to Poland with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Malawi in the final qualifying round. Nigeria is the only African nation to qualify for every edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, since the competition began in 2002.
Marabou News Agency
