February 03, (THEWILL) – When Nigeria takes on Cameroon in the second leg of the African qualifications for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, Costa Rica 2022, this week, they will be looking to prevent an upset.
The Falconets walloped the Central African Republic 11-0 on aggregate before dispatching Congo with a 4-0 first-leg victory, but were held to a 0-0 first-leg tie by Cameroon on January 22 at Stade de la Reunification.
The two-time world silver medalists are aiming for their tenth appearance in Costa Rica, and coach Christopher Danjuma is adamant that their team would leave nothing to chance at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
“We are in an excellent mood with everybody on fire because this is the chance to inch close to grabbing the U20 Women’s World Cup ticket and the mentality is to settle for nothing short of victory,” Danjuma said.
“The match is extremely important to us because Nigeria has always been present at every World Cup edition since its inception. This is a trend that we hope must continue.
“Some of these young ladies were not privileged to play at the cancelled 2020 edition due to the coronavirus outbreak but now this is the lifetime opportunity at the stage to achieve their dreams.”
In the African Games final in Morocco in 2019, the two teams played for the first time, with the Nigerians edging the Cameroonians 3-2 on penalties following a 0-0 draw.
Danjuma is confident in his team’s ability to defeat the Central Africans, despite a dreary scoreless stalemate with the Baby Lionesses in Douala.
“We know a great deal about the Cameroonian team which helped us in drawing out a plan as to what we should be expecting and how to go about it,” the tactician, who also doubles as Nasarawa Amazons head coach continued.
“One lesson we learned from the first leg match was that a game has to win during regular time by making sure all the opportunities that come our way are taken and conceding no goal and to always be in front scoring goals throughout the game.
“This is the qualifiers and the target is to be in Costa Rica for the main tournament come August this year. The goal now is that we are consumed by the desire that everything we feel and have about this tie is beating Cameroon and going to the final round.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
