The Flamingos’ world record-breaking performance at the just-finished Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India has been praised by several football fans.
After a 3-3 tie and a third-place playoff against Germany on Sunday in India, the Flamingos won bronze for the U-17 World Cup.
Nigeria won 3-2 in yet another tense penalty shootout despite enabling Germany to rally from a 3-0 deficit.
A variety of football fans told reporters on Monday that the Flamingos were certainly world-beaters and had permanently inscribed their names in the annals of national football.
The victory was a tremendous one for the nation and a source of excitement and pride for all Nigerians, according to Mouktar Mohammed, Chairman of the FCT Football Association (FA).
“It was a great result, we are all happy with the bronze medal. Big congratulations to the team, the technical crew and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
“Nigerian fans always expect results and whenever they get it they are elated. It excites the whole country when we do well and win laurels.
“Football is such a great unifier for the country and it projects a positive image of our country globally,” he said.
For his part, Adama Idris, a former director of marketing and sponsorship at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), credited Aisha Folade, the chairperson of the Nigerian Women’s Football League (NWFL), with the team’s success.
“The victory of the Flamingos can never be taken away from the passion and commitment of Aisha Falode and the way and manner she installed the winning spirit in the girls.
“Not only the Flamingos, but the entire women football. I could also see the blend among members of the team including the technical crew. They were psychologically self-motivated and technically fearless.
“With this victory, one can only hope that a special attention will be given to women football, in terms of funding for effective training, education and player motivation,” he said.
The record-breaking accomplishment by the Flamingos would continue to serve as a benchmark for other teams in the future, according to Godwin Bamigboye, the Interim National Coordinator of the Association of Football Administrators in Nigeria (AFAN).
“The Flamingos under the tutelage of Coach Bankole Olowookere are record breakers.
“Record breakers in the sense that they were the first in that category from Africa to reach the semifinals and narrowly missed playing in the final.
“To have won the bronze medal is another record; the first team in that category in Africa to achieve that feat at the World Cup finals.
“You can see that the girls have broken all sort of records which will indeed continue to be a reference point for others in the future.
“To only record left to be broken now is for the girls to get to the final and win a silver or gold medal,” he said.
Bamigboye emphasised that the girls’ accomplishments merited praise and noted that the third-place game was challenging, particularly after going down by as much as three goals only to come back and win.
In addition to commending the technical team for a job well done, he asked them to make sure that the girls were well cared for and trained so that they could transition smoothly to the Under-20 team.
“We thought it was the end, but the Germans pulled a stunning comeback late in the second half to create tension in the camp of the Flamingos.
“We all feared the worse and hoped it wasn’t going to be another penalty shootout disappointment for Nigeria.
“But the girls were so lucky and at the end of the day emerged victorious.
“Kudos to the technical crew and the entire team. It is a commendable effort and they must keep it up.
“The team should progress to the Under-20 level to play for the Falconets and I believe if they stay together with that understanding, they will go places and get that result we so desire,” he said.
He also praised the victory and urged the newly elected NFF Board, headed by Ibrahim Gusau, to start planning for the upcoming world cup right away in order to avoid a fire brigade strategy and have better results in subsequent matches.
“I also want to congratulate the NFF President, Gusau for this wonderful achievement, coming just one month in office.
“So, what he needs to do now is to keep our teams together, longer than they need to be because what is left in our national teams now, especially the female national team is team spirit.
“They need to stay much longer together and get used to themselves so that when they get to the world cup, they would have perfected both the technical and tactical aspect of the game.
“This is the antidote to poor performance and what they need to defeat other countries in the continent and at the world stage.
“So, let them stay and train hard together and as a matter of fact, the preparation for the next world cup must start immediately.
“We must not wait until it is just a few months away to the qualifiers, then we will start the normal fire brigade approach.
“Nigeria is still the biggest and best when it comes to women football in Africa.
“Yes, we recently lost our title to South Africa, but I believe if the women team prepare adequately, there is no team in Africa that can beat us,” he said.
The victory was a tremendous one, according to Mansur Abdullahi, a former assistant coach of the Under-17, Under-20, and Women Senior National teams.
Since the Under-17 Women’s World Cup’s inception in 2008, he noted that the achievement was a first for Nigerian football.
Additionally, Abdullahi praised the new NFF Board for winning and urged them to keep up the momentum.
To help find more record-breakers like the Flamingos, he nevertheless pleaded with the NFF to take seriously the grassroots growth of women’s football.
“Kudos to the new NFF Board on winning their first trophy. It is a good one and I urge them to sustain the tempo for better outings ahead.
“I also appeal to the NFF to look into the very important idea of having the ‘Future Falcons’ team, which is the Under-15 girls just like we have the ‘Future Eagles’, the Under-15 boys.
“This will go a long way in terms of grassroots development as well as the nurturing and discovery of more budding talents in the country,” he said.
