Nigeria’s Flamingos may have fallen short at the WAFU-B U-17 Girls’ Cup in Ghana, but coach Bankole Olowokere insists their loss wasn’t due to lack of effort or skill.

Speaking to Brila.net, Olowokere described his team’s performance as a case of bad luck, citing injuries to key players and the need for tactical improvisation to compete with the host nation.

“We were just unfortunate not to have won. We had a few injury concerns to some key players and had to improvise in order to compete with Ghana.”

Despite a rocky start in the final, where the Flamingos were quickly 2-0 down, the team rallied to level the score, only to lose to Ghana in a penalty shootout.

Olowokere praised his players for their resilience and emphasized the team’s belief in a comeback.

“Very importantly, I just have to appreciate Nigeria as a whole for their massive support ever since I’ve gotten this job and up to this last tournament I went to,” he said.

The coach also shared the emotional impact of the overwhelming support, even in the most challenging moments, including when the team was trailing by two goals.

“Far back home, I got a report about the support. Even at the time that we were 2-0 down, I came and heard some of the messages and other things.”

“There’s a lot of possibilities that come in 2020 that we are going to cancel the goal and still go ahead to win the match.”

“Even when they are not there, they believe in us and we are trying to do that. Not only when the referees are misbehaving, that’s the match of Asia.”

Looking ahead, Flamingos head coach remains positive about the future.

“So, I just want to appreciate them and believe that very soon, I mean very soon, because we are so close to make sure that one day we bring the trophy down to our team in Nigeria that others feel and believe in us.”