Bala Nkiyu, the former coach of Nigeria’s U-17 women’s team, believes the team can progress out of their group at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

While the group appears easy on paper, Nkiyu advised the team must prepare well to succeed against any opposition in October.

Former Nigeria U-17 Women’s NT head Coach, Bala Nikyu.

Highlighting Nigeria’s group, which includes host Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and New Zealand, the former Coach believes the Flamingos will excel if they prepare well.

“The growth I saw was a good one for Nigeria. Because that group they are in, if not for anything, they can scale through that group,” he said.

Commending on the team’s performance during the qualifiers, Nkiyu added, “They did well, and I’m sure since this is going to be the World Cup proper now, they will intensify their effort to do more.”

He added, “The more you play matches, the more you get into competition. And I know normally the first match in every competition is always a difficult one. But after the first, second match, you stabilize and then start moving.”

Bala concluded, “I believe that we are in a very good group and I’m also praying that, by special grace, they will do well. From the group stage, I won’t be surprised if we see them in the semi-finals.”