Ahead of the highly anticipated WAFU-B U-17 Women’s Football Tournament in Ghana this month, former coach of the Nigerian U-17 Women’s National Team, Bala Nkiyu, is confident that the Flamingos are in a strong position to compete and possibly claim the title.

In an exclusive interview with Brila.net, Nkiyu praised the team’s performance at the recent FIFA U-17 World Cup, where the Flamingos narrowly lost to the USA.

He further emphasized that the same group of players, with minor adjustments, could deliver another strong performance at the upcoming tournament.

“The good thing about football is if you have a country, if they still have the same team, then I should believe that they will continue to do well and dominate also,” Nkiyu said.

He added, “They did well in the World Cup, at least nobody would expect drastic change or whatever. But I think they will do well.”

Nkiyu highlighted the importance of maintaining a stable team, stating that continuity can lead to success.

“I just believe on one thing in football. If you have a team that is doing well and you decide to keep them and just act, it is always very, very important. Instead of reducing, to act.”

Reflecting on their World Cup journey, Nkiyu explained that the Flamingos’ early exit wasn’t a reflection of poor performance but rather bad luck. However, he believes that minor tweaks are needed.

“It was just an ill luck against them, not that they did badly. And no matter how good it was, maybe there are areas they failed, it was not too OK for them and they want to really force it. That one can be okay.”

“However, it’s not something that will make them change their whole team or whatever. So at least if you bring maybe three or four people to act to the team of 20 people, I think you are still not doing badly by that. You can still do well.”

With a solid team foundation and Nkiyu’s faith in their abilities, the Flamingos are poised for a promising campaign at the WAFU-B tournament.