Danjuma Confident as Falconets Intensify Preparations for Colombia 2024.
Coach Christopher Musa Danjuma has expressed his confidence in the Nigeria U-20 girls as the Falconets ramp up their preparations for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup finals, set to take place in Colombia from 31st August to 22nd September.
The Falconets, who have twice finished as silver medallists, are drawn into Group D alongside Germany, Venezuela, and Korea Republic. This year’s tournament marks the first time the competition will feature 24 teams, an increase from the 16 that competed in the previous tournament held in Costa Rica.
“The girls have been working very hard, and I am delighted at the level of improvement I have seen in the squad. There is greater understanding and ambition to accomplish. At an individual level, they continue to grow and show their determination to excel with focus on the larger picture,” Danjuma stated.
Danjuma emphasised the importance of starting strong, saying, “We must be very ready from the first blast of the referee’s whistle in Colombia, as there will not be many minutes to make mistakes and adjust against Korea Republic and Germany. Those two games will be key to our progress to the knockout rounds. We also cannot afford to under-rate Venezuela – they went through the qualifying rounds. The import is that we must bring our ‘A’ game to the party in all three matches.”
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup has seen many stars, including Spain’s Salma Paralluelo, Brazil’s Marta, USA’s Megan Rapinoe, and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala, who was the top scorer when the Falconets reached the final in Canada a decade ago, narrowly losing to Germany.
With the expansion to 24 teams, Africa is represented by four teams: Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon, and Ghana. Matches will be held across four venues in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. The Falconets will play their group stage matches in Bogotá and Cali.
The Falconets have shown promising form in their preparations, winning a series of friendly games in Abuja. They only lost to the Roma Academy U-17 boys but triumphed against an FCT Selected side, Horvel U-16 team, and Honey Badgers of Makurdi. The team is set to depart for a two-week final camping programme in Colombia in 17 days before their first match against Korea Republic in Bogotá on 1st September.
The Falconets will also face Germany on 4th September at the Estadio El Techo in Bogotá, and Venezuela on 7th September in Cali. Nigeria previously reached the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2010 and made it to the semi-finals in 2014.
