Busari: Flamingos Must Maintain Winning Mentality To Beat Japan

Flamingos coach Akeem Busari has challenged his players to maintain their winning mentality and fighting spirit against Japan as Nigeria pursue their first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title in Saturday’s final in Rabat, Morocco.

Busari believes the character his players have displayed throughout the competition will be crucial in overcoming the Japanese, who stand between Nigeria and a historic first world crown.

The Nigerian coach had declared his title ambition before the tournament, telling FIFA in September: “We want to be champions.”

His players have responded impressively, recovering from a 2-1 opening defeat to Poland to win five consecutive matches against Puerto Rico, two-time champions Korea DPR, Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil.

The 3-1 group-stage victory over Korea DPR demonstrated Nigeria’s ability to compete against the tournament’s strongest sides, while their emphatic 3-1 semi-final success over Brazil secured their maiden appearance in the final.

Busari believes the performance against Korea DPR offers valuable lessons ahead of the showdown with Japan, although he expects a different tactical and mental challenge.

“From what we saw against DPR Korea, I think it’s the core of what we should expect more of from the Japanese,” he told FIFA.

“But it’s a different ballgame because, for both us and them, the game will not be the same. The character, mentality and attitude which you approach every game with, and at every other level too, is what really matters.”

The coach also revealed that psychological counselling and discussions about tactics and attitude helped transform the team’s fortunes after their opening-day setback against Poland.

“After the first game, we needed to sit them down, psychologically talk to them, talk about our game plan and all we have been doing in the sessions,” he explained.

“We needed to change our attitude and character, but because of their age, we just needed to talk to them, to counsel them, and those are the points that make the difference.”

Despite the praise he has received for Nigeria’s tactical organisation and attacking football, Busari insisted that the players deserve the credit for their remarkable journey.

He described the Flamingos as the real gladiators and said winning the trophy would represent a major achievement for Nigerian football, African women’s football and his coaching career.

“It would be a plus for Africa, for Nigeria, for my own career as a person, but also for the players as well – they are the gladiators. Without them, we could not do anything,” he said.

With history within reach, Busari warned his players against becoming complacent, insisting that reaching the final was not the ultimate objective.

“We want to make our mentality right, we want to put our attitude down to the players as well so they can see the job is not yet done; we’re still on the track race. We’ll just have to really fight on until we get there,” he added.

Nigeria will face Japan at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat, with kick-off scheduled for 7:30pm Nigerian time. Victory would make the Flamingos the first African team to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.