The Nigerian U20 women’s team, known as the Falconets, will commence their final preparations for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Bogota, Colombia, starting on Sunday.
The squad, under the guidance of Coach Christopher Musa Danjuma, will undergo a two-week intensive training camp as they gear up for the tournament, which is set to kick off in Colombia on the final day of August.
Coach Danjuma shared his thoughts with thenff.com on Saturday, just hours before the team was scheduled to depart Nigeria.
They will board a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, where they will connect to Bogota.
The Falconets have consistently been a force in the U20 Women’s World Cup, having reached the tournament finals twice and the semi-finals in Japan 12 years ago.
They also made it to the quarter-finals in 2006, 2018, and 2022. Their qualification for 2024 tournament came after they secured Africa’s spot by defeating Tanzania and Burundi in aggregate scorelines.
The Danjuma-led squad has already spent four weeks in the first phase of their preparation in Abuja, where they played a series of friendly matches, impressively winning most of them and suffering only one loss.
Reflecting on the upcoming camp in Colombia, Danjuma expressed his gratitude, “I want to thank the NFF for arranging the two-week camping in Colombia. This will go a long way to help the team, as the players will acclimatize very well and get familiar with their surroundings before the championship begins. I assure you that we will make the best use of this opportunity.”
In a show of support, Sports Minister John Owan Enoh visited the squad on Friday, delivering a motivational message.
He urged the Falconets to aim for the top prize, building on the successes of past teams that have twice reached the World Cup final and made it to the semi-finals once.
“Your predecessors have done well reaching the final of the competition on two occasions and making the semi-finals once. It is now time for you to take our country further by winning the trophy. I commend the NFF for arranging the two-week final camping for you in Colombia that will enable you to acclimatize very well before the tournament.
“The Government and the people of this great country are with you, and I am confident that you will not disappoint,” Enoh concluded, expressing the nation’s faith in the team’s ability to excel on the global stage.
As the Falconets embark on this critical phase of their World Cup journey, the support from both the government and the football federation underscores the importance of their mission in Colombia.
