Nigeria’s Flamingos will today aim to break their quarterfinal jinx when they take on United States of America in the quarter-final clash of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
The Flamingos reached the quarterfinal stage for only the fourth time in their history after finishing as runners-up in Group B.
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The Bankole Olowokoore-tutored girls lost narrowly, 1-2, to another powerhouse of women’s football, Germany in their first match of the competition but have since overcome stage-fright and were worthy 4-0 and 2-1 winners over New Zealand and Chile respectively.
The Stars and Stripes won Group A with seven points after winning two, drawing one, and losing none of their games.
Navi Mumbai, a planned ultra-modern city that is only 25 kilometres from the Indian capital city of Mumbai, is the venue for this titanic clash set for the Dr. DY Patil Stadium as from 12 noon Nigeria time on Friday.
Having failed to reach the semi-finals in six previous editions, the Nigerians set out to achieve the impossible, ending the country’s 14-year wait for a last-four berth on their fourth quarterfinal appearance.
The Americans will hope to reach the semis for the first time since 2008 when they finished as runners-up at the inaugural edition in New Zealand.
This is the first time Nigeria will compete against the United States at this level, with three quarterfinal appearances at the World Cups in 2010, 2012, and 2014 the Flamingos’ greatest performance at the competition.
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