U-17 Women’s World Cup: Busari tells Flamingos to keep their eyes on the prize against Japan

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team coach, Akeem Busari, has told his players to stay focused and keep their fighting spirit as they prepare to face Japan in the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

Busari warned that just reaching the final is not enough. He insisted that the Flamingos must continue to work hard if they want to win the trophy and complete their historic journey.

“We want to make our mentality right. We want to put our attitude down to the players so they can see the job is not yet done. We’re still on the track race. We’ll just have to really fight on until we get there,” he said at the final press conference, according to FIFA.

Nigeria is aiming to become the first African country to win this competition. They have already made history by reaching the final for the first time.

The coach also talked about how his team bounced back from a tough start to the tournament. He revealed that he had to counsel the players after their 2-1 defeat to Poland in their opening Group B match.

Busari explained that the technical crew discussed the players’ mentality, attitude, and understanding of the team’s game plan. “After the first game, we needed to sit them down, psychologically talk to them, talk about our game plan and all we have been doing in the sessions,” he said.

“We needed to change our attitude and character, but because of their age, we just needed to talk to them, to counsel them. Those are the points that make the difference.”

This talk led to an impressive run where Nigeria won five straight matches against Puerto Rico, defending champions DPR Korea, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil to reach the final.

Their 3-1 victory over DPR Korea was especially important. It hurt the Asian team’s chances of keeping their title and gave the Flamingos confidence before facing Japan.

Busari noted that the performance against DPR Korea showed what Nigeria could expect from Japan. But he warned that the final would be a different challenge. “From what we saw against DPR [Korea], I think it’s the core of what we should expect more of from the Japanese,” he told FIFA. “But it’s a different ballgame because, for both us and them, the game will not be the same. The character, mentality, and attitude with which you approach every game, and at every other level too, is what really matters.”

Now Japan stands between Nigeria and their first U-17 Women’s World Cup title. The final is a chance for the Flamingos to turn their historic run into a remarkable win for African women’s football.