Head coach of Nigeria’s U;17 national team, the Flamingos, Bankole Olowookere, has praised his players for their performance in the friendly win against Galatasaray, but maintains the team is “work in progress.”
Speaking after the Flamingos’ 3-1 victory over Galatasaray, Olowookere said the friendly in Turkey would help sharpen the team for a positive outing at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
He said, “Though we won the match against Galatasaray, the team is not perfect yet and is still a work in progress. The friendly match is a build-up to whatever we might have done during the qualifying matches and when we resumed camp fully for the World Cup proper.
“We have played a couple of matches before now and I remember in one of the matches that we played against AS Roma, it was tough against the boys, but this is a female team, so it was easy for us to capitalise on our strength.
“The win is good for us, traveling from Nigeria to Turkey and playing against a big side and defeating them is a good development for the team ahead of the World Cup.”
The Flamingos are in Group B with Germany, Chile and New Zealand. The U-17 Women’s World Cup holds in India from Oct 11 to 30.
Contact: theeditor[at]punchng.com
