Falconets begin final camp ahead W’Cup

Two-time finalists Nigeria will set up camp in the Colombian capital, Bogota as from Sunday (today), for a two-week final camping programme leading to the commencement of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals which begin in Colombia on August 31.

The ever-present Falconets, who also reached the semi-finals in Japan 12 years ago and have been in the quarter-finals in 2006, 2018 and 2022, grabbed one of Africa’s tickets to this year’s final tournament after aggregate-score defeats of Tanzania and Burundi.

The coach Christopher Musa Danjuma-led maidens spent four weeks in the first phase of their final camping in Abuja, during which they won a series of friendly games, losing only once.

“I want to thank the NFF for arranging the two-week camping in Colombia. This will go a long way to help the team, as the players will acclimatize very well and get familiar with their surroundings before the championship begins. I assure you that we will make the best use of this opportunity,” Danjuma told thenff.com on Saturday, hours before the team was due to fly out of the country to Istanbul aboard a Turkish Airline flight, en route Bogota.

On Friday, Sports Minister John Owan Enoh met with the squad, and charged them to go for the ultimate prize having won the silver medals previously and being in the semi-finals once.

“Your predecessors have done well reaching the final of the competition on two occasions and making the semi-finals once. It is now time for you to take our country further by winning the trophy. I commend the NFF for arranging the two-week final camping for you in Colombia that will enable you to acclimatize very well before the tournament.

“The Government and the people of this great country are with you, and I am confident that you will not disappoint.”

Present in Canada in 2002 when the tournament was launched as an U19 Championship, the Falconets have participated in Thailand 2004, Russia 2006, Chile 2008, Germany 2010, Japan 2012, Canada 2014, Papua New Guinea 2016, France 2018 and Costa Rica 2022. The global coronavirus pandemic made any tournament impossible in 2020.

Already drawn to play Korea Republic, Germany and Venezuela in that order in the group phase, the Falconets know they must start fighting hard from the first blast of the whistle in Bogota to have any chance of making the Round of 16, as the competition welcomes 24 teams for the very first time.

With the field expanded to 24, Africa now has four flag-bearers (Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana).

Nigeria’s first match of the tournament against Korea Republic holds inside the 10,000 -capacity Estadio Metropolitano de Techo in Bogota on 1st September – the same venue where they confront Germany three days later. Their final match of the group phase is against Venezuela at the Estadio Pascual Guerrero in Cali on 7th September.