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Gusau will be Flamingos’ cheerleader in trilogy with Colombia

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The Flamingos at training in Goa on Monday  

Nigeria’s Flamingos will be facing Colombia for the third time when they meet in the semi-final of the U-17 World Cup in India.

The Nigerian side won the earlier two encounters at the group stages in 2012 and 2014.  When they line up on Wednesday, their army of supporters will increase by at least one.

President of Nigeria Football Federation,  Ibrahim Musa Gusau will be the cheerleader in what will be his maiden outing with a Nigerian national team since assuming his new position.

He was the chef de mission at the last AFCON in which the Nigerian team was the best at the group stage.

According to a media release by the NFF, the NFF boss,  has spoken with the players and officials severally during their earlier games in the tournament.

This tiime, he will physically witness the semi-final showdown at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa.

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It is the first semi-final, starting at 4pm (12noon Nigeria time) with the second semi-final between Germany and Spain to kick off three-and-half hours later.

Victory over Colombia – who defeated the only other African team to make the knockout stage, Tanzania 3-0 in the last eight – will shoot the Flamingos into Sunday’s final.

The Flamingos’ odyssey in India has had an uncanny resemblance to that of the Nigeria U20 girls, Falconets in Germany 12 years ago, at least from the quarter-final stage.

In 2010, in what was the first international tournament for any Nigeria team under the presidency of Aminu Maigari, the Falconets had beaten the United States 4-2 in a penalty shootout in a FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup quarter-final after both teams tied 1-1 in regulation time in Augsburg.

Four days later, a 2nd minute goal by Ebere Orji at the Bielefelder Alm in the city of Bielefeld condemned Colombia to defeat in the semi final, and the Falconets squared up to Germany in the final.

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The Flamingos are the first Nigeria team to be involved in a tournament during the presidency of Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau. They have beaten the United States in a penalty shootout after 1-1 draw in a World Cup quarter-final, and now await Colombia in the semi-finals.

It is also remarkable that Germany, Nigeria’s opponents in the final in Germany 12 years ago, are also in the semi-finals in India. They play Spain in the second semi-final on Wednesday.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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