FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals: Flamingos – What We Would Have Happen If They Came Home With Silver And President Tinubu Still Rewarded Them

PAUL LUCKY OKOKU

“4 mins.” Then “2 mins gone.” Then somebody in one of the football groups I was following got it down to the second. “3 mins 17 secs.”

It was 𝟕 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 in Rabat. Japan had cut Nigeria’s lead to 𝟐–𝟏, and people who had been celebrating a two-goal cushion were now praying for the final whistle. “Please let the girls win for us,” someone wrote. Then the message we wanted finally came. The Flamingos were world champions.

Now imagine Japan had equalised and gone on to win. Suppose President 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐛𝐮 had decided to reward the Flamingos for bringing home silver. Before you ask why he would reward a team that didn’t win it all, go back to where their journey began.

𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒

Picture a parent finding transport money for another week of training. Another rearranges work to get a daughter to an academy trial. Then the girl comes home without being selected. Someone has to help her get over the disappointment and find the fare for the next trial. By the time a player gets a national-team invitation, her family may already have spent years helping her get to places most fans will never see.

On 𝟏𝟎 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, the NFF announced that head coach 𝐀𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢 had invited 𝟑𝟔 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 to camp ahead of a qualifying round. On 𝟔 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫, the federation announced Nigeria’s final squad for Morocco. The World Cup roster had 𝟐𝟏 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬, including 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬. Those were two different stages of selection. Even after making the travelling squad, a player still had to earn her place in the starting eleven. (thenff.com, thenff.com, fifa.com)

Think about what happens when an injury interrupts that work. You may spend the session with the physiotherapist while the rest of the team trains. You have to rebuild your fitness and your confidence while someone else gets a chance in your position. The next selection date keeps coming. Your body takes the time it takes. That is part of the uncertainty a young player and her family live with long before anyone counts the medals.

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐋?

These girls faced players their own age from some of the strongest football nations in the world.

They lost to Poland 𝟐–𝟏, beat Puerto Rico 𝟐–𝟎 and defeated reigning champions DPR Korea 𝟑–𝟏.

They edged Mexico 𝟐–𝟏.

Against Venezuela, the match was nearly in extra time when 𝐀𝐳𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧 converted an 𝟖𝟗𝐭𝐡-𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 penalty.

Then, on 𝟒 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐰𝐮 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐮 scored twice as Nigeria beat Brazil 𝟑–𝟏 to reach its first final in the competition.

How well did you sleep that night? How many people did you call or message? They had already given us that joy before they ever faced Japan.

Had the final gone the other way, the joy would still have been real. So would every early morning, every difficult selection and every time a parent found a way to get a daughter back to training.

𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐁𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑-𝐔𝐏 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄

On 𝟏𝟏 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, the Super Eagles lost 𝟐–𝟏 to hosts Côte d’Ivoire in the final of the 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

Two days later, on 𝟏𝟑 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, President 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐛𝐮 received the team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The announced award for each squad member was the national honour of 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫 (𝐌𝐎𝐍), 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭 and 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 in the Federal Capital Territory. On 𝟐𝟒 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, the NFF reported the presentation of housing title documents, national honour certificates and confirmation of the land allocations.

The Super Eagles finished second, and the President judged that reaching the final and representing Nigeria as they did deserved recognition.

Had the Flamingos come home with silver, he would have been right to recognise what it took for them to reach a World Cup final, too.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐙𝐄

Malawi offers the closest comparison to the Flamingos. The 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 reached the final in their first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and lost 𝟑–𝟎 to Cameroon on 𝟏𝟔 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. When they came home with silver, President 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐚 rewarded them with 𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫. They had taken Malawi to a continental final and qualified for their first Women’s World Cup.

Senegal had done something similar. On 𝟐𝟎 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗, a day after Senegal lost the AFCON final to Algeria, President 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥 received the team at the presidential palace in Dakar and announced a bonus of 𝟐𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐅𝐀 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫.

Croatia recognised both silver and bronze on the world stage. On 𝟏𝟑 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖, President 𝐊𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐫-𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢ć formally decorated the team that finished second at the World Cup in Russia. On 𝟐𝟔 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, President 𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐢ć presented state decorations for Croatia’s third-place finish at the 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 World Cup in Qatar.

Malawi also rewarded bronze in another sport. On 𝟏𝟐 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔, Mutharika gave each member of the 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐢 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬’ 𝟏𝟔-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟑𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚 and a Christmas hamper after their third-place finish at the Fast5 Netball World Series.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐆𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐄

I know what it feels like to wear Nigeria’s colours and come home with silver. I did it at the 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. We wanted gold. I still remember what it took to reach that final. So when someone asks why a runner-up should be honoured, I have a question of my own.