Nigeria’s U-17 women’s head coach, Bankole Olowookere, has urged the Flamingos to show character and keep fighting after their 1-0 loss to France left their qualification hopes at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup hanging by a thread.

The Flamingos, who had already fallen to Canada in their opening match, produced a far more determined display in Morocco but were undone by an 81st-minute goal from France’s Maissa Fathallah.

Olowookere admitted the result was painful but insisted the team would not throw in the towel just yet. “It’s so disappointing, man,” he said. “As we said, we just need to see if we can get something. We’ll try to work hard in the next game and see how we can remain in the tournament.”

The coach, however, found encouragement in his players’ improved showing, saying a convincing win in their final group match against Samoa could still keep their campaign alive.

“The game we played is far better than the one against Canada,” he said. “If we had put up this kind of fight against Canada, I think we wouldn’t be in this situation where we are now. But it’s so unfortunate that the late goal came in. We’ll try to work on it and see if we can get something to remain in the tournament.”

With no points and a four-goal deficit, the Flamingos now face a must-win encounter. Olowookere made it clear that his side must be sharper in front of goal and tighter at the back if they are to have any chance of progressing.

“Three points can be enough to go through. We now have a deficit of four goals, so our plan against Samoa is to first secure the three points and then work on improving the tally and making our position more comfortable, considering what we’ve also conceded. That’s what we’re going to work on,” he said.

Note that only a big win over Samoa will keep the Flamingos’ hopes of advancing to the knockout stage alive.