Nigeria’s U20 women’s head coach, Christopher Danjuma, has expressed his admiration for his young squad after securing a convincing 4-0 victory over Venezuela in the group stages of the 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, as reported by Soccernet. ng.
The impressive triumph marked Nigeria’s second win at the tournament, ensuring the Falconets a place in the Round of 16 as they continue their strong campaign in Colombia.
Danjuma commended the performance of his predominantly homegrown team, emphasizing that 90% of the players are sourced from Nigeria’s local league. “It’s a fantastic feeling, and we don’t just want to win but also showcase our abilities by playing good football,” Danjuma stated emphatically to FIFA.
“We have a lot of talents that we want the world to see, and this is the perfect opportunity to showcase those talents. 90% of them are from our local league; they are not professionals brought in from Europe or elsewhere,” Danjuma added with pride.
Flourish Sabastine, one of the standout players, was named the Player of the Match after netting Nigeria’s third goal. This marked the young winger’s second goal of the tournament, having previously scored the winner in the Falconets’ 1-0 victory against South Korea.
Sabastine becomes the second Nigerian player to receive this individual accolade, following in the footsteps of Philomina Addo Yina, who was recognized in the match against Korea.
Another rising star gaining attention is Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, who put on an impressive performance against Venezuela with an assist for Amina Bello’s opener and successfully converting a well-taken header to make it 2-0. It should be noted that Okwuchukwu also scored Nigeria’s consolation goal in their 3-1 loss to Germany.
