Colombia 2024: Super Falconets coach Danjuma expresses coonfidence as team intensifies preparations

Posted : 02 August 2024

Coach Christopher Musa Danjuma has expressed confidence in his Nigeria U20 girls as the ever-present Falconets intensify preparations for this year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals taking place in Colombia, from 31st August to 22nd September.

The two-time silver medalists will contend with Germany, Venezuela, and Korea Republic in Group D of the first tournament to welcome 24 teams, an increase from the 16 teams that featured at the last tournament in Costa Rica. Their matches will take place in the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Cali.

“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.

“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 underrate Venezuela – they went through the qualifying rounds. The import is that we must bring our ‘A’ game to the party in all three matches.”

FIFA Women’s World Cup stars such as Australia and New Zealand’s Salma Paralluelo of Spain, Brazil’s Marta, USA’s Megan Rapinoe, and Nigeria’s perennial African Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala are among the women football stars who have graced the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.

Oshoala was the top scorer when the Falconets reached the final of the championship in Canada 10 years ago, narrowly losing to Germany.

With the field expanded to 24, Africa now has four flag-bearers (Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon, and Ghana). Matches will take place in four venues across three cities (Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali). There will be two venues in Bogotá – Estadio El Campín and Estadio El Techo. The Estadio Atanasio Girardot in Medellín and the Estadio Pascual Guerrero in Cali are the other venues.

The 13th African Games runners-up have won a string of friendly games in their ongoing first phase of final camping in Abuja, losing only to the Roma Academy U17 boys. They have had the upper hand against an FCT Selected side, Horvel U16 team, and lately, Honey Badgers of Makurdi. They will fly out of the country in 17 days for a two-week final camping program in Colombia, before their first match of the tournament against Korea Republic in Bogotá on the first day of September.

Other matches are against Germany (also inside the El Techo Stadium in Bogotá) on Wednesday, 4th September, and against Venezuela in Cali three days later.

Nigeria also reached the final of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in 2010, losing to host nation Germany. Four years later, the Falconets made the semi-finals in Japan.

Colombia 2024: Super Falconets coach Danjuma expresses coonfidence as team intensifies preparations

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