Nigeria’s under-20 women football team, the Falconets, on Monday in Bogota lost 0-1 to their Mexican counterparts in a friendly match.
The match against Mexico was the final game in their preparations for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
It was played at Club Banco de la República in the Colombian capital, which will be hosting the World Cup.
Mexico scored the lone goal in the 15th minute through a volley by Alejandra Lomelí.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 2010 and 2014 silver medallists had on Friday beaten Australia 2-1 as part of their preparations.
Speaking after Monday’s match, Falconets’ team head coach Christopher Danjuma said the game was their final warm-up before the tournament proper.
Danjuma said: “The friendly matches were crucial for the Falconets as they have helped the team fine-tune their strategies and assess their readiness for the tournament.
“We won five of our six qualifying matches with healthy score lines and have added victory over the Australians, even though we lost to the Mexico team.
“That the team played two international friendly matches and won one and lost one shows the girls are ready and we will work more on our lapses before the competition.”
Danjuma however acknowledged that the FIFA World Cup finals would not be easy.
He said: “The fact that we are up against Korea Republic and three-time winners Germany in our first two matches means we need to be at our best physically, mentally and psychologically.
“Physically and mentally, I believe we are in shape.
“Psychologically, we are good also.
“The team left Nigeria to Colombia for two weeks so that we can play quality friendly matches in readiness and we have done that.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Nigeria are with Germany, Venezuela and Korea Republic in Group D of the tournament scheduled to kickoff on September 2.
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Nigeria will start their campaign against Korea Republic on September 2 before taking on Germany two days later on September 4 and Venezuela on September 7.
Spain are the competition’s defending champions after their success at Costa Rica in 2022.
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