Flamingos coach Bankole Olowookere talks about guiding the team to a historic third place finish at the 2022 U17 Women’s World Cup and lessons learned from the competition in this interview. EBENEZE BAJELA
Congratulations for India’s third place finish, Nigeria’s best ever start. What does winning bronze mean to you and the Flamingos?
First of all, I want to thank God for the opportunity and success, I am grateful to the Nigerian Football Federation for giving me the chance and also my technical team because a tree doesn’t make a forest.
Talking about winning what the sports minister called the ‘golden bronze’, how people appreciated what we did in India and I felt so happy and great as a coach because I never thought I would ever take the pride we brought to the nation down. When I was going to the World Cup I thought I would make history, I know that going through the quarter finals would make history, but the goal I shared inside of me was to win the World Cup. among my colleagues, but we kept it to ourselves. Third place against Germany was dramatic and very entertaining, but I’m happy with how it went and I’m happy that I was able to make the country proud on the world stage.
With a third place win over Germany, many analysts wrote off the girls after their win over the Germans in the group stage. What magic did he do against the European champions?
My first philosophy as a coach is determination. Because when you are determined you can overcome any obstacle that comes your way. What also worked for us was our discipline and this comes across every branch. The Germans weren’t that fantastic to take away from the crowd in the first game they won. A lot of people were focused on the name and shouting German machine, but this is what I took advantage of and was able to work on the psyche of the players by understanding that their opponents were just human beings like them. I told them that people were only afraid of the Germans because of the factors they put into play and I asked them to do the same. It didn’t go well in the first game but we were able to pull it off in the second game.
In beating the US, did you think your girls had what it took to beat the Americans before the clash?
At the tournament in India, the bookies did not include Nigeria among the favorites to win the World Cup; but there were USA, Germany, Brazil and Korea. The Americans were the favorites in their classification and the moment we realized we were going to face them, because we initially thought we would face Brazil, we were determined because we knew we had to get past the quarter-final stage.
For my part, I have trained the players to create a lot of scoring opportunities until we know we are scoring goals. When I was preparing for the tournament, I did my research and found that there was a tournament where Nigeria did not score a single goal and that was also the reason why we did not qualify for any edition of the World Cup. I learned from other people’s mistakes and that’s how we built ours.
Against Colombia, it was terrible how your players were afraid to take penalties after the first five players took theirs. Did your team only train for five shots?
In the past, I used to watch this World Cup through my TV, but now I play an active role and I can say that I know the difference. If you are not in the camp you will not understand some things. We practiced penalties before we left Nigeria and on our tour, we did the same and when we got to the playoffs, we started practicing again.
We have our specialist who also helps in training and I can tell you that all the girls practiced penalties but these girls are young and what happened against Colombia was unimaginable and I also learned a lesson. What affected the team was the last player to miss the penalty, because in training he often converts all his shots and I think that affected the players because their hope for the best penalty failed and they became demoralized.
You always prayed at critical moments. How religious are you?
I can’t explain how religious I am. I know my actions and work speak for me. the only thing is that what I have achieved in life I give all the glory back to God, but from my actions on the field of play I know that I have mentored the players and the moment they are on the field there is little I could do and I can only talk to God to intervene.
What people saw on the field is a small part of what I pray for, because I pray more and harder in my closet than that.
How did you and the girls organize the military farewell celebration?
(Laughs) I know a lot of people are interested in this question and I’ve tried to avoid telling people that. It’s true that you can’t give what you don’t have and I can tell you that nothing happened without practice. As a base coach, there’s a way to relate to the players because these girls are homesick at times and that’s why I try to create some excitement in the dressing room and on the training ground.
The idea came from an exciting moment in training. First, I asked them how they celebrate when they score a goal, but they all got together and said they wouldn’t tell me until they got to the field. But I already knew what I wanted and that is to say hello. And since they refused me as they told me, I told them that every time they scored a goal they had to run to me and salute me.
The concept was that I would be saluted for a job well done as I reciprocate and together we will all give back to all Nigerians who stood by us. The salute is a sign of respect and means that we are respecting our country. That’s how the celebration came about and not because I had a military one.
How far do you think these girls can go if they grow up properly?
The key word here is properly fed. If these players are monitored and looked after properly, I think they can go far. This is football and the truth is we may never hear from some of them again because their love for the game is gone and all they want to do is travel overseas and survive. When I was in India I told them that I would go back home and leave it to the coaches because we know how things are.
These girls are still young and the kind of friends and advice they get will determine how well they will do and that’s why personally, apart from being their coach, I talk to them like a father but I can tell they have quality. go far
What was your toughest moment at the World Cup?
The only challenge I had at the World Cup was something that I kept in mind throughout the tournament. I was determined to win the World Cup, although I didn’t say it in the media apart from my technical team and players. Not winning the World Cup hurt a bit but I was divine and I can say that everything happens for a reason. I also learned that if I work hard I can achieve better results and I will remain adventurous because I know I will win the World Cup and that is my only challenge.
A video went viral of your girls dancing with the Germans after the third place match. How do you feel when you see such a scenario?
I can really tell you that it is not easy to lose a match and start dancing with the one who defeated you and that shows whether football is not dead or not. Before the match, I said in a press conference that football should be a family affair and I was happy to have played something like that afterwards.
Some of these players can be teammates at any club, why should we be enemies? The Germans were the first to come to the place where we asked to exchange jerseys and I also exchanged jerseys with them. They appreciated our jersey and I’m proud to have achieved that.
