Flamingoes Apologises For W/Cup Exit

Flamingoes, the national women under17 team have apologised to Nigerians for their failure to progress beyond the quarter-final stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
A brace from Patri Guijarro and one from Nahikari Garcia were all the Europeans needed to book a place in the semi final of the competition at the expense of Bala Nikyu’s side as the Nigerians once again missed out on making it beyond the quarter finals.
Speaking after the game, Flamingoes’ Assistant Captain, Uchenna Kanu, appealed to Nigerians to bear with the team as it was never their plan to lose the encounter.
Uchenna while admitting disappointment with her side’s loss to Spain and lamented the quality of officiating, but foresees Nigeria winning the next edition of the tournament.
“I’m not happy that we lost, I’m not happy that we are out of the competition, I believe football is a game of luck, it can favour anybody, any day, but we thank God none of us suffer any injury. The way it happened today, I don’t know what happened with the referee and everything seems against us. I know it’s not a thing of joy to lose and not only losing, getting out of the tournament, it’s very sad.
“It is normal to be angry and disappointed when people think you will get to somewhere. It is just sad but I don’t think they should kill us because we lost the match or because we are out of the tournament. I believe that one day the trophy will come to Africa, Nigeria to be precise. They should bear with us”, she pleaded.
Captain of the Nigerian side, Chiwendu Ihezuo, also registered huge disappointment with the Flamingoes’ exit from the age grade competition.
“I feel very bad about the outcome of the match. I don’t know what happened to us today. I know Nigerians are very disappointed in us. We just appeal to them that we are very sorry. This is not the end of the World. We will still try our possible best next time”, the Pelican FC forward said amidst tears.
However, Flamingoes’ Head Coach, Bala Nikyu, praised the standard of the competition, although he expressed displeasure over his team’s performance and the outcome of the quarter final game against Spain.