Falconets eye U-20 W’Cup spot

Nigeria’s U-20 girls have intensified their preparations for Sunday’s U-20 Women’s World Cup final qualifying round, first leg encounter against the U-20 girls of Burundi, with another training session in Dar es Salaam on Friday afternoon.

The first leg of the doubleheader game will hold Sunday at the Azam Stadium Complex in Tanzanian.

The winner over the two legs will qualify as one of Africa’s four flag-bearers at this year’s U-20 Women’s World Cup finals in Colombia which has been scheduled for August 30 to September 22.

The Falconets, ever-present at the finals since the competition was launched in Canada in 2002, reached the quarter-finalists at the last edition in Costa Rica, and are much-fancied to brush aside the Burundian challenge and pick another World Cup ticket.

Nigeria’s delegation arrived in Dar es Salaam – which is hosting the match as Burundi does not have an approved stadium for international games – on Wednesday and players immediately shook off the jet lag with a light training session. They also trained on Thursday.

The team is looking forward to Saturday’s official training at the match venue – the same venue where they drew 1-1 with Tanzania’s U-20 girls in their last round of the qualifiers, before sealing qualification to this stage with a 2-1 defeat of the Tanzanian girls in Abuja in the return leg.

Head coach Chris Danjuma and his crew travelled with 19 players, led by captain Oluchi Ohaegbulem, goalkeeper Faith Omilana, defenders Jumoke Alani and Shukurat Oladipo, midfielders Taiwo Afolabi and Chima Olise, and forwards Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, Opeyemi Ajakaye and Janet Akekoromowei.

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