Costa Rica 2014: Go for Goals, Coach Bala Nikyu Tells Flamingoes

Nikyu in an appraisal of the Flamingoes, after two victories in two friendly games in Portugal said the team is doing everything possible to ensure that no stone is left unturned in preparations for the World Cup.

“I’m happy with the progress so far. Playing two matches and winning both is good, but not the ultimate. We are not still good enough at converting chances when we create them, knowing at the World Cup such chances are not easy to come by – we missed some early chances against the Portuguese’s U14 boys, which if it was at the World Cup could cost us,” he noted.

“Winning the friendly games is not the issue, but watching the games and knowing where we are lacking, seeing lapses and improving on them is what I’m after. We had several scoring chances in the first five minute but lost them. We will continue to work on improving and creating chances and also converting them,” he said.

Ahead of the scheduled friendly matches against Benfica’s women club and Belgium women U17 national team respectively, Nikyu stated that he is not keen about the pedigree of their opponents but hope to expose the players with the friendly games.

“We are not after the division where the teams play. I don’t know them, but seeking to learn from every opponent that comes our way on where and what we are not doing well. We note areas we could still have problem and try to solve them. We are training well and seeking to get better for the World Cup,” he said.

Nikyu however, appealed to football loving Nigerians for their prayers, promising that they are all focused on recording success at the World Cup.

The Nigeria U17 women will trade tackles with Benfica’s women club side on Sunday, March 2 and later travel to Belgium to play its U17 women national team on Tuesday, March 4th.