Dominican Republic 2024: Olowookere says Flamingos will play as if on home soil

Head Coach Bankole Olowookere has assured that the Nigeria U17 girls, Flamingos, will play as if they are on home soil when they take on their Liberian counterparts in their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup final qualifying fixture in Monrovia on Sunday.

“The atmosphere is great and the city of Monrovia is friendly. We feel at home, and we will approach the match as if we are playing at home. There is no way we will allow any form of crowd intimidation to distract us from our objective of picking a handsome win in this first leg.

“I have spoken to the players and we have been working very hard, right from Abuja, and since we got here. A good win in the first leg here in Monrovia is crucial for us to play the return leg in Abuja without any jitters.”

The match at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville, which is the first leg of the final qualifying fixture for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup that will be hosted by the Dominican Republic, will commence at 4pm Liberia time (5pm Nigeria time) on Sunday.

The second leg has been scheduled for the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Friday, 14^th June, starting from 4pm Nigeria time.

CAF has appointed officials from Chad to take charge of Sunday’s game, with Lare Lamngar as referee and her compatriots Victorine Ngarassoum, Homadje Ndingadal and Aicha Bit Oumarou as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official respectively. Oumou Souleymane Kane from Mauritania will be commissioner and Ghanaian Emmanuella Grace Aglago will be in the role of referee assessor.