Nigeria U18 women team have qualified for the semi-finals of the ongoing 2024 IHF Women’s Trophy Intercontinental Phase in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Nigeria defeated Guadalupe by 28 to 23 goals in their first match and beat North Caledonia 29 to 14 goals in their second match to scale through on Thursday.
The chief coach of Nigeria U18 Girls women’s team, Agboola Shittu told www.aclsports.com that the mission is to qualify for the IHF Women’s Junior Championship 2024 in North Macedonia.
Shittu revealed that the girls played to instructions in both matches and executed the game plan during the matches.
The2003 All African Games bronze medallist said, “Nigeria wants to win this tournament because it means a lot to us. The girls have conquered Zone 3, African and now is the time to conquer the world. Winning the IHF Intercontinental Phase means Nigeria is going to the World Championship next June. It is my dream to lead Nigeria to the biggest handball event this year.
“We had a strategy on how we wanted to play the game against Guadalupe and North Caledonia. I must praise the players for making it work. Without the players, it would have been difficult to carry out our plans. They are the ones who make everything work.”
Shittu told is players that there is more work to be done despite qualifying for the semi-finals of the IHF Intercontinental Phase.
He said, “As African champions, this is not the time to celebrate. We need to rest properly for the semi-final match which is very important. We will only celebrate when we win the tournament. Now is the time to work on some of our lapses.”
