Flamingos
FIFA’s Infantino And CAF’s Motsepe Give Same Verdict About Flamingos’ Achievement; Both Declare: ‘It’s No Fluke’
As reactions continue trailing Nigeria’s 2-1 victory over Japan in the final of this year’s FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in Rabat, Morocco, two highly placed administrators have asserted that it was not a fluke result.
Sports247 reports that this verdict came from FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, along with Confederation of African Football (CAF) supremo, Patrice Motsepe, who both declared that the Nigerian squad deserved their historic conquest on Saturday.
Infantino and Motsepe also spoke eloquently about the future prospects of the Nigerian players, who they noted showed immense potential to achieve even greater things for the country and themselves in years to come.
This much was disclosed by the acting general-secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, who said Infantino and Motsepe personally told him that they were hugely impressed with the Flamingos’ performances in all their matches during the competition.
Ikpeme recounted while addressing the Flamingos on their return to Abuja in the early hours of Monday: “The FIFA President and the CAF President told me at different times that you all have done well and that your triumph was no fluke.”
The NFF’s acting scribe then provided his personal view about the epochal outing by Nigeria’s female cadet national team at Morocco 2026, where he recalled that they lost their first match 2-1 against Poland but bounced back to win six games on the trot.
The biggest of those victories came with the same 3-1 scoreline – against then back-to-back defending champions, DPR Korea in their last group match and versus eternal favourites Brazil in the semi-final.
With Coach Akeem Ishola Busari’s side having also defeated Puerto Rico 2-0, Mexico 2-1 and Venezuela 1-0 before silencing Brazil and Japan in their last two matches, Ikpeme concluded that the Flamingos deserved all the encomiums that are coming their way.
“You won it as a result of better performance. You played your opponents hands down and dominated right from your second match until the end. After narrowly losing your first match, you changed your game for the better.
“You won the following six matches convincingly to lift the trophy. You showed the world the gulf in class between you and the other teams,” Ikpeme acknowledged with a tone of pride.
Sports247 gathered that Ikpeme addressed the squad at the hotel in Abuja where the Flamingos were lodged on arrival from Rabat, as they await details of a presidential reception being planned for them.
The post FIFA’s Infantino And CAF’s Motsepe Give Same Verdict About Flamingos’ Achievement; Both Declare: ‘It’s No Fluke’ appeared first on Sports247 Nigeria.