Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team head coach, Bankole Olowookere, has called on his players to stay resilient and fight for redemption after their narrow 1-0 defeat to France further dented their hopes of advancing at the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

After losing their opening match to Canada, the Flamingos showed greater determination against France but were undone by an 81st-minute strike from Maissa Fathallah, leaving them without a point after two games.

Speaking after the match, Olowookere admitted the defeat was painful but urged his side not to give up.

“It’s really disappointing,” he said. “We just have to keep believing and working harder. We’ll do everything we can in the next game to stay in the tournament.”

The coach expressed optimism that their improved performance against France was a positive sign, adding that a strong win in their final group fixture against Samoa could still revive their qualification chances.

“This game was much better than the one against Canada,” Olowookere noted. “If we had played like this earlier, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Unfortunately, we conceded late, but we’ll correct our mistakes and give everything in the last match.”

With no points and a four-goal deficit, the Flamingos now face a must-win clash against Samoa. Olowookere emphasized that the team needs to be more clinical in attack and organized in defense to stand any chance of progressing.

“Three points could be enough to qualify,” he explained. “We’re going for the win first, then we’ll work on improving our goal difference to make our position more secure. That’s the focus now.”

Only a big victory over Samoa will keep Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive.