Nigeria’s U-17 girls a.k.a Flamingos, will today fly out of the country to South Africa for the first of their two-leg FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifying match against the U17 girls of South Africa, known as Bantwana. The match, for which the Confederation of African Football has selected Kenyan officials to superintend, will kick off at 3 pm South Africa time (2 pm Nigeria) on Saturday, 8th March at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital.
The U-17 girls Head Coach, Bankole Olowookere has selected his 19 players, with goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma, defenders Hannah Ibrahim and Jumai Adebayo, midfielders Shakirat Moshood and Muinat Rotimi, and forwards Harmony Chidi and Chisom Nwachukwu.
While 2022 FIFA World Cup bronze medallists Nigeria drew bye to the second round, Bantwana crushed their opponents from Gabon 21-2 on aggregate.
Josephine Wanjiku has appointed as referee by CAF, with her compatriots Mary Njoroge, Elizabeth Njoroge and Juma Lucy Awino to serve as assistant 1, assistant 2 and fourth official respectively.
Cindy Barbara Dludlu from eSwatini will be the commissioner, with Moroccan Khadija Rezzag to be in the role of referee assessor.
Both teams will battle things out in the return leg at the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne-Remo on Saturday, 15th March, with the winner on aggregate progressing to the third round of the qualification campaign.
