Flamingos head coach Bankole Olowookere has promised that his team will fight hard to win the bronze medal at the India 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup today.
The Nigerian girls face Germany in the third-place match from 12 noon in Navi Mumbai for the tournament’s bronze medal, with the final between Colombia and Spain following shortly after.
“The girls gave a very good account of themselves but it was not to be,” Olowookere said yesterday, referring to the semi-final defeat to Colombia.
“We have the bronze medal match to contend with and we will throw everything into it.”
Nigeria and Germany lost their semi-final games on Wednesday, the Flamingos to Colombia on penalties and Germany to Spain via a last-minute goal.
The Flamingos and Germany played each other in their opening Group B match on October 11, with the Europeans coming from behind to win 2-1.
Nigeria remained unbeaten in regulation time since that defeat, beating New Zealand 4-0 and Chile 2-1, and then overcoming the United States of America on penalties in the quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
This Flamingos team already made history by reaching Nigeria’s first-ever semi-final in the competition, and would hope to crown their efforts with a medal.
Germany won bronze in the tournament’s first edition in New Zealand and finished fourth in Azerbaijan in 2012 after losing the third-place match to another African team, Ghana.
