Nigeria U17 women’s team head coach Hakeem Busari says the Flamingos will not treat Côte d’Ivoire lightly in their 2026 WAFU-B U17 Girls Cup clash with the hosts, www.aclsports.com reports.
“We know we are in their place, but this is African football. Everybody is free to play, so we’re not taking anything for granted. We respect them and they will respect us. It’s going to be a very good game, but we’ll give good value as well. We’re not going to underrate them, neither will we allow them to underrate us,” Busari said.
He expects Côte d’Ivoire to provide a tactical test but says his players will focus on playing as a team.
“I know they have tactical awareness, like the other time when I watched them. It’s going to be a good game. We want to play as a team. We want to defend as a team. We want to show the character we have. We’ll do our work, take our chances when they come, and we’ll play with style and character.”
He expects patience and good ball movement if the host team adopt a low block.
“For them, they come with their character at that level, and the physicality is just a low block. At that level, what we need to do is more passing of the ball, looking for a hole. All these are fundamental things we will be able to take positives from that game. We can meet a team like that when they are sitting more, low block, 10 behind the ball.”
The game will take place on September 24 at 19:00 WAT at the Lycée Scientifique in Yamoussoukro.
Image: CAF Zone Ouest B
