Leadership (Abuja)
Salifu Usman
19 November 2008
Abuja — Nigeria's U-20 Women's Team, Falconets will today in the South American nation of Chile, open their 4th FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup campaign against their New Zealand counterpart in a bid to pick up the first three points.
The two young sides have exuberance and unencumbered approach of youth which the result will be is a serious matter, as the losers will immediately have their backs to the wall in a game of catch-up for the remainder of the group stage.
Nigeria has made it to all editions of the championship, starting from Canada 2002, Thailand 2004 and Russia 2006. The Falconets made it four in a row by securing their place at Chile 2008. Although they were knocked out at the group stages in Canada and Russia, Nigeria went one step further at Thailand 2004. A 1-0 defeat against eventual finalists China PR, followed by a 2-1 victory over Brazil and a 1-1 draw against Italy were enough to earn them a place in the quarter-finals which they narrowly lost to winners Germany in a penalty shootout (5-4) after the match had ended 1-1.
The Coach Daniel Evumena-tutored side will be counting on the experience gathered from previous editions, especially in Thailand 2004, to get them through the group stage. Evumena, who knows his squad is not lacking in quality or togetherness, has all the resources needed to take the Falconets to the quarter-finals at least.
The Falconets open their campaign against the Young Ferns at the Coquimbo Stadium in the north of the country, where they will also take on England on Saturday, before their clash with hosts, Chile in Temuco on Wednesday next week.Nigeria take on New Zealand at 3pm Chile time on Wednesday, which is 7pm in Nigeria.
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