Nigeria’s Flamingos head coach, Akeem Busari, has praised the sheer grit and resilience of his players following their dramatic victory over Venezuela to secure a crucial spot at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

A nerve-wracking quarter-final contest saw the West Africans dominate possession and create numerous scoring opportunities, only to be repeatedly frustrated by a stubborn Venezuelan defense. Speaking after the game, Busari admitted that the physical approach of their opponents posed unique challenges for his squad on the pitch.

“It’s a mixed act, because we want to play the ball on the ground, they come on the physical, they come into our zones, they block every ball, tackles, and this really shows the game’s height,” Busari noted.

Reflecting on the tense moments as the match approached the final whistle, the coach revealed the anxiety on the sidelines as scoring chances went begging.

“What was going through my mind was, you see, when a game like this, when you play against a team and the chances were coming, you could not really take the chances,” he explained.

Busari added that even when many anticipated the encounter would drift into a penalty shootout, the team dug deep to break the deadlock late in the game.

“Even though when everybody was expecting maybe the game might go into the penalty, we keep fighting and we get our goal,” Busari stated.