FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP CHILE 2015 Draw

The Final Draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 took place on Thursday, with the 24 participating nations discovering who they will be facing in the group stage and where, key information that will help them with their preparations for the tournament kick-off on Saturday 17 October.

FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 photo credit fifa.com

The Groups:

Group A : Chile, Croatia, Nigeria, USA

Group B : England, Guinea, Brazil, Korea Republic

Group C : Australia, Germany, Mexico, Argentina

Group D : Belgium, Mali, Honduras, Ecuador

Group E : South Africa, Costa Rica, Korea DPR, Russia

Group F : New Zealand, France, Syria, Paraguay

NPFL Attends Inaugural World Leagues Forum

*LMC calls for Redistribution of Income derived from Nigeria

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was among the 24 leading Professional League organisations from across the world of football that met in London on Tuesday, April 28 for the first ever Global Leagues Forum.

This historic meeting brought together Presidents, Chairmen, Chief Executives and General Secretaries from Professional Leagues that represent over 1100 of the world’s top Clubs. Professional Leagues from Bolivia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, UAE, USA, as well as the European Professional Football Leagues Association, were represented. Players of clubs in these leagues provided just under 90 per cent of the players who took part in the FIFA World Cup 2014.

In the NPFL delegation including Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), Shehu Dikko and Chief Executive Officer, Hon. Nduka Irabor, made a strong case for the redistribution of incomes derived by the developed Leagues from the Nigerian territory.

The discussion between the leaders of Professional League football was wide ranging and focussed on strategies for the successful development of Professional League football in each of their countries. These focussed on relationships with players and fans in particular, and Professional League business models.

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: A group shot of all the delegates during the Global Leagues Forum with twenty four leading Professional League Organisations at The Dorchester on April 28, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

Dikko said he was very hopeful that some of the contacts made would soon begin to yield dividend particularly in the areas of human capacity development and technical overhaul of the game.

“The LMC Is absolutely delighted to be part of this inaugural meeting as a pioneer member of the forum. This clearly signifies that the LMC is making huge progress and in the right direction to be so recognized on a global scale.

“The contacts made will surely impact positively on our efforts to improve on the fortune of the NPFL”, Dikko said.

According to Renata Affonso, the Planning and Projects Manager of the Conference, it is recognised that whilst all Professional Leagues are different, the issues they face are the same as each looks to develop the professional game in their country. The World Leagues Forum thus provided a platform for sharing of experiences and approaches, with established Leagues committing to assisting developing Leagues across the world.

The Leagues agree that wherever a common view on issues can be achieved, Leagues should speak with a single voice, as leading members of the global football family. A focus of the next meeting in the USA (19-20 October 2015) will be on formalising a new way of working more closely together

FEI Endurance Forum In Costa Rica Discusses New Endurance Rules

Over 64 delegates from FEI Group V attended an FEI Endurance Forum in Tilaran, Costa Rica on 23-25 January 2015, the first Forum following the introduction of the new Endurance rules on 1 August last year.

FEI Group V covers Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

Athletes, officials including judges, technical delegates and veterinarians, as well as coaches and owners, gathered for the three-day Forum organised with the Costa Rica National Federation and Costa Rica Endurance Association to discuss Endurance across Central and South America and globally.

FEI Endurance Forum

Key areas addressed included horse inspections, the field of play, anti-doping and veterinary rules, disqualification and the FEI Online Entry System, which gives access to over 100,000 international athletes through a single online platform.

At the end of the Forum, a one-hour Endurance ride was held to demonstrate the new rules in action.

“The FEI Endurance Forum was extremely productive in a region where Endurance enjoys huge success,” FEI Endurance Director Manuel Bandeira de Mello said.

“We’re now looking forward to rolling out our series of Endurance courses and seminars throughout 2015, as part of our plan to develop one of the FEI’s fastest-growing disciplines.”

Get Into Rugby Celebrates Record Numbers In 2014

World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby programme continues to reach out to all corners of the globe and is well on course to reach its target of one million new participants by Rio 2016

Get into Rugby Madagascar

World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby (GIR) programme remains on course to achieve its goal of introducing one million new youngsters to the sport by Rio 2016.

In the last 12 months alone 300,000 children with no previous experience of rugby have benefitted from the scheme, taking the overall number of participants since GIR was launched in 2013 to well over 600,000.

Officials in Fiji, where previously 95 per cent of girls did not play rugby, say the three-phase programme – Try, Play and Stay – has been “a bit hit” throughout the country’s primary schools.

Girls’ participation in Fiji was encouraged by a number of initiatives such as equal representation of boys and girls at rugby festivals, giving more points for tries scored by girls in mixed competitions and using national team players as ambassadors.

Rugby is now seen as a girl’s sport in Laos too. Here, the ‘Little Blossom’ programme draws on elements of GIR to teach life skills, leadership, health, fitness and rugby.
World in union

World Rugby supplies essential kit, training and education support to each of the 135 unions who have signed up for GIR, with 11,500 personnel involved in delivering training sessions across 1,300 locations worldwide.

Since the start of the programme, rugby is now a full part of the school curriculum for both girls and boys in Brunei, while in China 13,000 children in 15 cities have learnt the joys that rugby can bring.

A successful IMPACT Beyond project was also organised in China alongside the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in August and featuring Get Into Rugby.

Dedicated staff assigned to GIR put pilot programmes into practice in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and what was learnt through these programmes was then applied throughout the rest of Europe to ensure the success in Scandinavia was reflected.

Meanwhile, in South America 9,600 Brazilian children have had an early taste of the Olympic dream after taking part in events and festivals held at facilities earmarked for use at Rio 2016.

In virgin rugby territories such as Costa Rica, Get Into Rugby has been used as an effective way of getting the sport off the ground through school/club partnerships. There are now as many GIR participants as club players in the country.

Sharing best practices is a key attribute to the success of any programme or organisation and representatives from each of the six regions – Rugby Europe, North American and Caribbean Association (NACRA), Asian Rugby Football Union, Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions, Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) and Confederation Africaine de Rugby (CAR) – got together in mid-November to share their success stories at a Growing the Game Conference in London.

The programme was also recently launched in five new countries in Europe in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Russia with the latter seeing activities take place in one of the coldest environments in Siberia.

2015: Further growth

Further conferences are planned in 2015 as the Get Into Rugby programme expands into even more countries. The unions of four countries in Africa (Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Guinea) and five in Asia (Nepal, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Tajikistan) are set to take part.

Special Get into Rugby events are also being planned around International Women’s Day (8 March) and a Rugby World Cup 2015 ‘Rugby Day’.

NFF Delegation Set For Canada 2015 Draw

The delegation of Nigeria Football Federation to Saturday’s 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, Canada 2015, will depart from Abuja on Thursday morning.

Coach Edwin Okon, who led the Senior Women National Team, Super Falcons, to clinch a seventh African title in Namibia in October, will be joined by Team Administrator, Ruth David and Team Media Officer, Gracious Akujobi.

The Draw Ceremony for the 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals will be held in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, on Saturday, with 24 finalist teams to be divided into six groups of four teams each.

Already qualified for the finals are host Canada, United States of America, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, England, Japan, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, China, Korea Republic, Thailand and New Zealand.

The last spot will be taken by the winner of the intercontinental play –off between Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago. Both teams battled to a a scoreless first leg in Quito, with the return leg taking place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on Tuesday, December 2.

The finals will be staged 6th June – 5th July, 2015 in six Canadian cities, viz: Edmonton (State of Alberta), Moncton (State of New Brunswick), Montreal (State of Quebec), Vancouver (State of British Columbia), Ottawa (State of Ontario) and Winnipeg (State of Manitoba).

Nigeria has featured in all six previous editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 (China), 1995 (Sweden), 1999 and 2003 (USA), 2007 (China) and 2011 (Germany), with a quarter final berth in 1999 the Super Falcons’ best effort so far.

Costa Rica 2014: “We are very sorry”, Flamingoes apologize to Nigerians

Flamingoes have apologized to Nigerians for their failure to progress beyond the quarter-final following a 3-0 loss to Spain at the ongoing FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica on Friday morning.

A brace from Patri Guijarro and one from Nahikari Garcia were all the Europeans needed to book a place in the semi final of the competition at the expense of Bala Nikyu’s side as the Nigerians once again missed out on making it past the quarters.

Speaking after the game, Flamingoes’ assistant captain Uchenna Kanu appealed to Nigeria to bear with the team and not to murder them as it was never their delight to lose the encounter.

Uchenna while admitting disappointment with her side’s loss to Spain and quarterfinal exit lamented the quality of officiating, but foresee Nigeria winning the next edition of the tournament.

“I’m not happy that we lost, I’m not happy that we are out of the Competition – I believe football is a game of luck, It can favour
anybody, any day, but we thank God none of us sustain any injury. The way it happened today, I don’t know what happen with the referee and everything seems against us. I know it’s not a thing of joy to lose and not only losing, getting out of the tournament, it’s very appalling.

“It normal for them to be angry and disappointed when people think you will get to somewhere. It is just sad but I don’t think they should kill us because we lost the match or because we are out of the tournament – I believe that one day the trophy we come to Africa, Nigeria to be precise. They should bear with us,” she pleaded.

However, striker and captain of the Nigerian side, Chiwendu Ihezuo also registered huge disappointment with the Flamingoes exit from the age grade competition, insisting amiss over what transpire against Spain.

“I feel very bad about the outcome of the match. I don’t know what happen to us today. I know they are very disappointed in us. We just appeal to them that we are very sorry. This is not the end of the World. We will still try our possible best next time,” the Pelican
forward said amidst tears.

In the same vein, Flamingoes’ head coach Bala Nikyu, has praised the standard of the competition though expressed displeasure over his team’s performance and the outcome of the quarterfinal game against Spain.

“Although we’re disappointed that our adventure has ended too early, we’ve really enjoyed taking part in this marvellous FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which has been fantastically well organised. It goes without saying that I’m not happy with the way the match panned out or our performance, but there’s nothing we can do about it now except try to put it behind us,” upset Nikyu said.

The Nigerian side will depart The venue of the quarter final Friday morning (Friday evening in Nigeria), to Madrid and from there pick a connecting flight to Lagos, from where the team will leave for its final destination, Abuja tomorrow morning.

Maigari wants Flamingoes to sustain winning mentality As Pa Ojidoh goes home in blaze of glory

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Aminu Maigari has called on the U-17 Women National Team, Flamingoes, to go all out fo victory in Sunday’s final Group D clash with Mexico at the on-going 4th FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

The NFF President spoke in Alajuela while praising the girls for their strong mentality that shone through in the 2-1 defeat of Colombia on Wednesday, which shot the Flamingoes into the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup quarter finals for the third successive time.

“Against China and Colombia, you showed excellent mentality and took the three points without brooking any debate. For me, the NFF and the entire Nigeria football family, there is still a long way to go.

“I do not align with those people who feel that Sunday’s clash with the Mexicans is an academic affair. Yes, we are already in the quarter finals. But it is important that we go for a win in that game in order to sustain our winning mentality,” Maigari said.

The NFF President continued: “I am proud of what you have done so far in this tournament. We are winning, so we should sustain that winning mentality to carry us all the way to the trophy. If we rest on our oars against Mexico, we will lose the momentum and the winning mentality.”

Victories over China and Colombia made Nigeria one of the countries to reach the last eight with one match to spare, joining fellow African flag-bearers Ghana, Italy, Venezuela, Japan and Mexico.

“Once you learn to win, you don’t rest on your oars. No hostage-taking. That was the mentality that took the Golden Eaglets to
the world title in the United Arab Emirates last year and I know it will serve you girls well here in Costa Rica,” added Maigari.

Nigeria take on Mexico on Sunday with one eye on their quarter final clash with the winner of Group C, scheduled for Thursday.

Pa Ojidoh goes home in blaze of glory…

The sleepy, serene community of Illah in Oshimili Local Government Area of Delta State rocked like never before on Friday with the
colourful burial of renowned referee and administrator, Ogbuenyi Pa John Chukwumah Ojidoh, who died on February 3.

Venue was the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in the community, which also gave the world Mr. Stephen Okechukwu Keshi
(CON), a former Captain of the Super Eagles and currently Head Coach of the Senior National Team.

The church overflowed with top government functionaries, sports administrators, political heavyweights, referees from the Delta State
chapter of the Nigeria Referees Association, as well as political mobilisers and galvanisers in their scores.

A member of the NFF Executive Committee, Chief Effiong Johnson represented the NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, who is away in Costa Rica for the on-going FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, and there were also Mr. Ademola Olajire (Assistant Director, Communications) and Dr. Christian Emeruwa (special assistant to the General Secretary).

After the 105-minute church service, the body was moved to the family compound for interment, as the world bid final bye to one of the most astute and passionate football administrators of our time.

Also at the event were political heavyweight Mrs Josephine Anenih, members of the Delta State cabinet, Chairman of the League Management Company, Hon. Nduka Irabor, former NFF General Secretary Ambassador Fanny Amun, top officials of the Delta State Sports Commission including the chairman, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, PDP top shots and in-law and family friends of the late Pa Ojidoh, led by media mogul, Mr. Ted Iwere.

Costa Rica2014: Flamingoes will score plenty goals against Colombia..Chiwendu apologies for poor show against China

Flamingoes captain Chinwe Ihezuo has assured Nigerians that she and her teammates are ready for a goal feast against Colombia in the ongoing FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica on Thursday morning in Alajuela.

Nigeria after defeating China 2-1 on Monday morning will face the South Americans at the Alejandra Morera Soto stadium in their bid to secure the second victory at the World age grade competition.

The Nigeria U17 women skipper stressed the teammates’ readiness to secure an outright victory against the Colombians in their second Group D clash.

“They should expected plenty goals against Colombia. We are ready for the game against Colombia – We will do our best. We are fully prepared to win tomorrow with God on our side,” she assured.

The apologetic Flamingoes striker admitted her performance in the opening game was below par and promised to improve against Colombia.

She blamed the injury that forced her and some of her teammates out against China on inadequate intake of water and extreme tightness of their chin-guard which resulted to pain in her muscle.

“I was not in the game and I was even playing against my team – but I want to promise that I will step up against Colombia. I had a muscle pull and I also think the shin-guard we were wearing really affected us. We also didn’t take much water before the game,” she explained.

While responding to question over hopes of the country emerging champions of the tournament despite the slim 2-1 victory over China, Chinwe stressed that she and her teammates are very determined to bring the trophy to Nigeria.

“We stand a good chance to win the tournament; we are not only here to participate but to defend our country and ready to bring back the trophy to Nigeria – we will make them proud,” she confidently assured.

Nigeria U17 Women will take on Colombia by 8pm in Costa Rica on Wednesday evening while 3am Nigerian time on Thursday morning.

Bala Nikyu: Flamingoes are ready for U17 World Cup

Head coach of the Nigeria U17 women national team, the Flamingoes, Bala Nikyu, has declared his team is ready for the FIFA U17 women World Cup which kicks off on Saturday, March 15 in Costa Rica.

After 19-day of intensive training at the Browns Sports football pitch in Faro, Portugal the team is now scheduled to depart for Costa Rica on Wednesday for the tournament that holds from March 15th to April 4th.

Nikyu, who stated this on Tuesday while making an assessment of the team’s readiness so far ahead of the age-grade competition, expressed delight at the positive response of the players in its World Cup preparatory activities and also stated that there is no injury doubt.

“We thank God that during the preparatory period there hasn’t been an major injury – considering our programme, the girls are really in a good shape, I think by the special grace of God,we are ready.”

The Flamingoes gaffer noted that the players are under no pressure to perform and deliver the World Cup title to Nigeria come April 5th.

“There is nothing like pressure, you must have watched the attitude of the players, they have been very free and lively, the coaches and officials are very free with themselves, so I think considering the cooperation, the team should get a better outcome,” he assured.

On what the Nigeria U17 women could do to better their campaign in Costa Rica, Nikyu said his ladies are prepared to surpass their
previous record at the World Cup this year, he also blamed the country’s exit in last edition on ill-luck.

In comparison with his past experience as the assistant coach of the Super Falcons, the Coach said ” In Super Falcons, you need much maturity to succeed and the players know what is expected of them, but for the Flamingoes, the case will not be much different, despite the fact that we lost out due to ill-luck in the last edition, after playing beautifully well, however, we are not looking at the
quarter-final, but we hope to improve on our previous record.”

In his assurance to Nigerians that the Flamingoes will do well at the World Cup, he said: “We can assure Nigerians that we are prepared, the team spirit is high and are ready for the World Cup; we are ready to play as the team’s spirit is good. The only thing we ask for is God’s luck to succeed in Costa Rica.”

Flamingoes will depart on Wednesday from Lisbon, Portugal for their FIFA U17 women World Cup campaign in Costa Rica which kicks off on Saturday, March 15.

The Nigeria’s U17 women will take on China in the opening group D clash of the World cadet championship in Costa Rica on Sunday.

“We’re motivated by Golden Eaglets to win in Costa Rica, says Chiejine…All games are like final for Us

“We’re motivated by Golden Eaglets to win in Costa Rica, says Chiejine….All games are like final for Us…dropped four must stay focused

Assistant Coach of the Nigeria U17 women national team, Ann Chiejine, has said that the success of the Golden Eaglets at winning the 2013 U17 World Cup in UEA have motivated the Flamingoes ahead of its FIFA U17 women World Cup in Costa Rica.

Nigeria will begin its campaign against China in Group D on Sunday at the tournament that holds from March 15th to April 4th.

Chiejine who spoke on the mood of the team ahead of its opening game against China said the team is fully prepared for the challenges and hope to take all games seriously.

“Yea, I believe in our girls so much – they know why they are here and it is not for jamboree. Little tips we have about China shows they are more attacking conscious and if they leave their defense open, hmmm…?

“Our boys, the Golden Eaglets wining the U17 World Cup have given the girls a morale booster that they can do it too. They will put
everything they have. I think our first game is important as the final match and by God grace after the match (China) we should be able to laugh,”say the first Super Falcons goalkeeper.

In her assessment of the team after over three months of preparation, she said, “We have prepared enough right from Nigeria – we played series of friendly matches, we lost only one, drew one and won the rest- we have trained enough, we have done everything we could do in terms of tactical, technical and physical aspect of it, which the girls have adapted well to.

“There is understanding and cohesion in the team – we are not going to leave any stone unturned -we will do our best with the preparation we have had, I think the girls are in high spirit and ready to go,” the assistant coach assured.

Meanwhile, the former Super Falcons goalkeeper Chiejine has appealed to the four players dropped from the 25-man list not to lose focus, she encouraged them to work hard for more opportunities with the U 17 and U 20 levels of the women National teams.

“We had 30 minutes chat with the girls; it is not that they are bad players but it not just their time yet. They should be happy making
the 25-man list; it’s an experience for them, many started with us but were dropped during the screening.

“It’s an eye-opener for them and ability to stand-up when you fall makes you what you are. The most important thing for them is to
continue to train, not to relent and work hard as there will be opportunity ahead for them in the U17 and U20 next time,” she urged.

Bala Nkiyu picks 25 for Flamingoes’ Training Tour in Portugal

Head Coach of the Nigeria U17 Women team Bala Nkiyu has picked 25 players for the training tour billed for Faro, Portugal in the final phase of their preparation for the 2014 FIFA U-17 women World Cup in Costa Rica.
A 33-man delegation of the Nigeria U17 national team made up 25 players and 8 officials departed the country’s capital, Abuja by 11pm on Friday, for a training tour of Faro, Portugal aboard on a Lufthansa Airline flight.

Expectedly on board were familiar faces like Captain Biawo Tessy Kesiena, Chinwendu Ihezuo who both starred at the last U17women World Cup in Azerbaijan.

On the list also are Uchenna Kanu, Esther Elijah, Ugochi Emenayo, Aminat Yakubu, Cynthia Aku, Mary Ologbosere, Joy Duru, Joy Bokiri as goalkeeper Onyinyechi Okeke, Ginika Ikeh and Onyebuchi Goodness were not left out by Coach Bala Nkiyu.

The Flamingoes will be involved in an international friendly match with Belgium U17 women team in Brussels on 4th March and other tune-up games with some clubs in Portugal during a 19-day training camp at the Browns Sport and Leisure Club in Faro, Portugal.

The Nigeria U17 women will return to Faro from Brussels and then fly from Madrid, Spain to San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, on 12th March, with their first match of the tournament against China on 16th March.

Nigeria will trade tackle with China, Mexico and Colombia in Group D at the tournament that will be played across four stadiums, three in San Jose and another in Liberia.

The 25-man list is expected at the end of the training tour to be trimmed to 21 for the 4th FIFA U17 Women Finals in Costa Rica, taking place through 15th March – 5th April this year.

FULL PLAYERS LIST

Goalkeepers

Vincent Mercy (Confluence Queens), Okeke Onyinyechi Patience (Inneh Queens), Dike Patience Ndidi (COD United Ladies), Fubiana Briggs (Pelican Stars)

Defenders

Ologbosere Mary Nunumwen (Ibom Angels), Duru Joy Ndidi (Nasarawa Amazons), Emenayo Ugochi Cynthia (Nasarawa Amazons), Elijah Esther Olubunmi (Osun Babes), Mene Augusta Efe (Nasarawa Amazons), Anibaba Ayominde Awawu (FC Robo), Obidiya Alex Faith (Pelican Stars), Chika Edeh (Nasarawa Amazons), Dike Patience Ndidi (COD United Ladies)

Midfielders

Biawo Tessy Kesiena (Delta Queens), ljeh Eluwemunor Desire (Delta Queens), Onyebuchi Ihuoma Goodness (Rivers Angels), Bokiri Joy Ebinemiere (Bayelsa Queens), Ginika Ikeh (Confluence Queens)

Forwards

Aku Cynthia Onyedikachi (Rivers Angels), Ajibade Rashidat Busayo (FC Robo), Chinwendu Veronica Ihezuo (Pelican Stars), Kanu Uchenna Grace (Pelican Stars), Ikechukwu Vivian Obianuju –(COD United ladies), Yakubu Aminat (Rivers Angels), Agams Nkechinyere – (COD United ladies)

Team Officials

Bala Nkiyu (Head Coach), Ann Chiejine (Assistant Coach), Latif Yusuf (Goalkeeper Trainer), Larai Garba (Team Doctor), Amaka Enebe (Physiotherapist), Dupe Oyewale (Team Coordinator), Taiye Abawa (Team Secretary), Jennifer Okoye (Media Officer).

NFF doubles Flamingoes’ win-bonus, allowances

The camp of the U-17 Women National Team, Flamingoes, erupted in joy on Thursday after NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, announced that the Federation had decided to increase their allowances and match bonus by one hundred percent.

While on a visit to the team’s Serob Legacy Hotel, Abuja on Thursday, on his way to a special meeting with CAF President Issa
Hayatou in Cairo, Maigari charged the girls to go all out and do Nigeria proud at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup finals taking place in Costa Rica from 15th March – 4th April.

“Only yesterday, our dear leader, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR pledged even more support for sportsmen and women vying to bring glory to Nigeria. And as you are also aware, every individual or team that lifted the name of the nation in one way or the other has been honoured by President Jonathan.

“The NFF charges you to concentrate very well and be focused during your final training camp and to pay attention to the instructions of your Coaches. That is the only route to success in Costa Rica. I have faith that after your final training programme, you will be well
prepared to lift the World Cup trophy.”

The Flamingoes are now scheduled to depart Nigeria through Abuja on Friday, 21st February, aboard a Lufthansa Airline flight, for a 19-day training camp at the Browns Sport and Leisure Club in Faro, Portugal.

Already, the Nigeria Football Federation has secured a top grade friendly for the team, with the U-17 Women National Team of Belgium, to be played in Brussels on Tuesday, 4th March. A number of games with some clubs in Portugal are also on the line.

The team will return to Faro from Brussels and then fly from Madrid, Spain to San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, on 12th March, with their first match of the tournament against China on 16th March.