Flamingos Defeat Liberia, Qualify For 2024 U-17 World Cup

Nigeria’s Flamingos have qualified for the 2024 FIFA women’s U-17 World Cup in Dominican Republic.

The Flamingos sealed qualification after defeating Liberia 2-0 in the second leg of the final qualifying round on Friday at the MKO Abiola Stadium Abuja.

A brace from Harmony Chidi earned her side a 6-1 aggregate win after winning the first leg 4-1 in Monrovia.

Chidi opened the scoring in the 4th minute before adding the second goal on 63 minutes.

This is the Flamingos’ seventh appearance at the U-17 World Cup since making their debut at the inaugural edition in 2008.

Also Read: Musiala: I Almost Committed My Future To England

At the 2022 edition in India, the Flamingos finished third which is their best ever performance at the World Cup.

The Flamingos and two other African countries will represent the continent at this year’s edition which will run from 16 October to 3 November.

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Papafem on June 15, 2024 11:03 am

I absolutely loved what I saw yesterday in their match against Liberia. The team played free-flowing football, packed with delightful moments and some lovely goals. Olowookere is doing a fantastic job with the team. Honestly, a combination of these girls and the U-20, under a competent coach, could easily take down several senior African female teams.

This is exactly what we need: a constant supply of talent at every level of football. Our development teams should continually evolve by qualifying for and excelling in both continental and FIFA competitions. The talents are there, just waiting to be discovered. So many female kids with sublime football skills are out there, thanks to their environments, but they’re wasting away without knowing what to do with their lives. Being more vulnerable than their male counterparts, sporting platforms like this can go a long way in making them useful and relevant in the society.

Football has transcended being just a recreational sport; it’s a global brand, producing professionals who are making significant impacts in their communities. That’s why we’re shouting and crying for the NFF not to let our U-17 male teams waste away due to poor planning and organization. How on earth can Africa present 10 U-17 male teams and Nigeria, a five-time world champion, not be among them? It’s painful and unbelievable. I’m still deeply hurting. Every time the Golden Eaglets fail to qualify for any continental or FIFA tournament, it feels like a generation of potential Super Eagles is wasted. Imagine this happening consistently for almost 10 years—the last time we did anything reasonable at the U-17 level in the male category was in 2015. The graduates of that 2015 team are already reaching their peak now. The pain is better imagined than experienced.

The female teams are surviving the NFF’s ineptitude not because the Glass House is doing anything for them, but because the gap between Nigeria and other countries is still somehow wide at the age-grade level. Once other African countries figure out how to deal with us, we’re definitely going to see a replay of what’s happening in the male category, where we now struggle to even make it to CAF competitions.

I want to congratulate this team on qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic. Many thanks to Coach Olowookere and his crew, and to anyone in the NFF who is genuinely supporting these girls.

Now, onto the big one: they should aim to go further than their predecessors and win the title in the Dominican Republic. I’m highly confident that with proper planning and preparation, only a few teams will be able to stand against them come November. So, NFF, let’s not mess this up, okay?

4 Comments

Sly on June 14, 2024 7:12 pm

I can bet NFF would be owing these girls in spite of the peanuts they are given. Congratulations ladies.

Now that under 17 world cup would become every year after this year’s edition, only Super falcons might be the more productive of the national teams because for super Eagles, many claim to still be young while they are already empty so more lobbying will keep a lot of the uninspiring players in the team for a couple more years.

Finidi once said bench warmers will not grace his turf. We know how that panned out. Players even strolled into camp hours to the qualifiers and made first team.

Deo’s lover player Onuachu (no disrespect, Deo) was expected to do the same thing and new result magically expected and we know how it ended.

Our lady teams still have the fear factor because glasshouse thinks they are not “profitable and marketable” for branding but I’m happy for the players being exposed.

Thankfully, there’s not a chance for class of yesteryear dictating the direction of the lady teams.

Keep it up, Flamingoes!
Keep it up, Falconets!!
Keep it up, Super Falcons!!!

deo on June 14, 2024 10:20 pm

Lol 🙂

One love, Sylvester.

- Sly on June 15, 2024 10:29 am
  
  One love too Deo! The NFF matter na case jare
  
Papafem on June 15, 2024 11:03 am

I absolutely loved what I saw yesterday in their match against Liberia. The team played free-flowing football, packed with delightful moments and some lovely goals. Olowookere is doing a fantastic job with the team. Honestly, a combination of these girls and the U-20, under a competent coach, could easily take down several senior African female teams.

This is exactly what we need: a constant supply of talent at every level of football. Our development teams should continually evolve by qualifying for and excelling in both continental and FIFA competitions. The talents are there, just waiting to be discovered. So many female kids with sublime football skills are out there, thanks to their environments, but they’re wasting away without knowing what to do with their lives. Being more vulnerable than their male counterparts, sporting platforms like this can go a long way in making them useful and relevant in the society.

Football has transcended being just a recreational sport; it’s a global brand, producing professionals who are making significant impacts in their communities. That’s why we’re shouting and crying for the NFF not to let our U-17 male teams waste away due to poor planning and organization. How on earth can Africa present 10 U-17 male teams and Nigeria, a five-time world champion, not be among them? It’s painful and unbelievable. I’m still deeply hurting. Every time the Golden Eaglets fail to qualify for any continental or FIFA tournament, it feels like a generation of potential Super Eagles is wasted. Imagine this happening consistently for almost 10 years—the last time we did anything reasonable at the U-17 level in the male category was in 2015. The graduates of that 2015 team are already reaching their peak now. The pain is better imagined than experienced.

The female teams are surviving the NFF’s ineptitude not because the Glass House is doing anything for them, but because the gap between Nigeria and other countries is still somehow wide at the age-grade level. Once other African countries figure out how to deal with us, we’re definitely going to see a replay of what’s happening in the male category, where we now struggle to even make it to CAF competitions.

I want to congratulate this team on qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic. Many thanks to Coach Olowookere and his crew, and to anyone in the NFF who is genuinely supporting these girls.

Now, onto the big one: they should aim to go further than their predecessors and win the title in the Dominican Republic. I’m highly confident that with proper planning and preparation, only a few teams will be able to stand against them come November. So, NFF, let’s not mess this up, okay?