U-17 WWC: Busari urges Flamingos to stay focused for Japan final

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team coach, Akeem Busari, urged his players to stay focused and maintain their fighting spirit as they prepared to face Japan in the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco. Busari warned that reaching the final was not sufficient, emphasizing that the Flamingos needed to continue working hard to complete their historic campaign by winning the trophy.

"We want to make our mentality right; we want to put our attitude down to the players so they can see the job is not yet done; we’re still on the track race. We’ll just have to really fight on until we get there," he said at the final press conference, according to FIFA.

Nigeria aimed to become the first African country to win the competition, having already made history by reaching the final for the first time. The coach reflected on how his team bounced back from a difficult start to the tournament, revealing that he had to counsel the players following their 2-1 defeat to Poland in their opening Group B match.

According to Busari, the technical crew discussed the players’ mentality, attitude, and their understanding of the team’s game plan. "After the first game, we needed to sit them down, psychologically talk to them, talk about our game plan and all we have been doing in the sessions," he stated.

"We needed to change our attitude and character, but because of their age, we just needed to talk to them, to counsel them, and those are the points that make the difference."

This intervention preceded a remarkable run during which Nigeria won five consecutive matches against Puerto Rico, defending champions DPR Korea, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil to reach the final. Their 3-1 victory over DPR Korea was particularly significant, as it dented the Asian side’s hopes of retaining the title and boosted the Flamingos’ confidence ahead of their meeting with Japan.

Busari noted that the performance against DPR Korea provided some indication of what to expect from Japan but cautioned that the final would present a different challenge. "From what we saw against DPR [Korea], I think it’s the core of what we should expect more of from the Japanese," he told FIFA. "But it’s a different ballgame because, for both us and them, the game will not be the same. The character, mentality, and attitude with which you approach every game, at every other level too, is what really matters."

Japan now stood between Nigeria and their first U-17 Women’s World Cup title, offering the Flamingos a chance to transform their historic run into an unprecedented triumph for African women’s football.