By Akinwale Kasali
Nigeria’s Under-17 Female Football team, Flamingoes, has made Nigeria proud. In making the country proud, the girls broke the record and made history
At the PYT Davil Stadium in Goa, India Flamingoes defeated Germany 3-2 on Penalties after a 3-3 draw at the end of 90 minutes.
The victory gave the team the Bronze medal. But to Nigeria and Africa, the Bronze is like Gold. It is the first time any African country would get to that stage. On their way to this stage, the Nigerian girls upstaged a number of Football powerhouses, including, USA!
The Coach Bankole Olowookere Girls, surprisingly, took the lead courtesy of Opeyemi Ajakaye, top scorer in the African qualifier who ended her goal drought with a brilliant opener for the Flamingos in the 20th minute, before Amina Bello doubled the lead with a brilliant header just three minutes into the second half.
Few minutes later, Edidiong Etim, who came on for Chidera Okenwa in the 59th minute, made it three goals for Nigeria.
At this point, the Flamingoes were confident of victory before the Germans proved their mettle as no pushovers. They pulled one back through Jella Viet’s effort in the 73rd minute and scored the second in the 88th minute through Platiner Paulina, before Loreen Bender equalised for the European champions in the 92nd minute to drag the match into the lottery of penalties.
During the spot kicks, Blessing Sunday, Etim and Ajakaye, all scored from the spot for Flamingos but defender Tumininu Adeshina’s miss did not matter as Pauliner Bartz fluffed the crucial kick for Germany.
The Flamingoes finished the tournament on a high note winning the Bronze medal, hereby achieving a feat that no African country has ever achieved.
They made history with this feat, giving the nation its first medal at any FIFA Women tournament.
Spain defeated Colombia in the final 1-0 to record a back-to-back triumph at the Under-17 Female World Cup, retaining the trophy it won in 2018 in New Zealand.
