Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, have received a combined financial reward of ₦3 million following their qualification for the quarter-finals of the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
The financial pledges came from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye, and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Adeboye pledged ₦2 million to the players in recognition of their 2-1 victory over Mexico in Thursday’s Round of 16 encounter in Rabat, while the NFF Acting General Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, promised an additional ₦1 million.
The combined ₦3 million reward comes as encouragement for the young Nigerian players following their impressive performance against Mexico, which secured their place among the last eight teams in the competition.
The Flamingos took the lead in the 40th minute through Oluebube Umejiaku, who produced an excellent solo effort before calmly beating Mexico’s goalkeeper.
Mary Dunstan doubled Nigeria’s advantage in the 71st minute with a close-range finish, scoring her first goal of the tournament.
Mexico reduced the deficit through Camila Campos in the 100th minute, but Nigeria held on to secure a 2-1 victory.
The result sets up a quarter-final meeting between Nigeria and Venezuela on Sunday.
Venezuela booked their place in the last eight after eliminating Germany in their Round of 16 fixture on Wednesday.
The Flamingos, coached by Akeem Busari, will now be hoping to extend their impressive run and move closer to winning the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title.
