The head coach of Nigeria’s U17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowookere, has expressed regret to supporters after the Flamingos were eliminated from the ongoing FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
After the team departed from the tournament, Olowookere conveyed his disappointment with the outcome but commended his young athletes for their dedication and effort throughout the event. “Firstly, I want to say sorry to our fans everywhere. We regret that it ended like this,” Olowookere remarked. “There are valuable lessons to learn and positives to take away. I take pride in the girls because they put forth their best effort.”
The coach acknowledged that conceding the initial goal impacted his players’ spirits but asserted that they demonstrated resilience and growth throughout the competition.
“A goal can either boost or undermine morale. After we conceded, we found it challenging to regain our rhythm. However, I cannot fault them — they are still developing and have shown significant potential,” he continued. While reflecting on Nigeria’s performance, Olowookere highlighted the need for future development and nurturing more young female players through ongoing participation in international tournaments.
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“This current end is just the beginning of another adventure,” he stated. “We need to start preparing for the next challenge. This experience will contribute to producing improved players in the coming years.”
Despite the disappointing loss, Olowookere remains hopeful about the team’s prospects, noting that the players have gained critical international exposure that will support their advancement to higher levels, including the U20 and senior national squads.
“The World Cup has concluded, but the outlook for these girls is positive,” he finished. “They’ve gained a lot of knowledge and will return even stronger.”
The Flamingos were aiming to progress past the knockout rounds but suffered a 4-0 defeat to Italy on Tuesday evening in Morocco.
Previously, the team was beaten by Canada and France with scores of 4-1 and 1-0, respectively, but managed to advance out of the group stage by ranking among the four best third-place teams across the six groups after defeating Samoa 4-1.
