The U-20 Women National Team, Falconets, are up against familiar foes, Basetsana of South Africa, in the African final qualifying round for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup finals.
Nigeria, runner-up at the last edition, earned
passage into the final qualifying round on Saturday after a 2-0 defeat of the
Democratic Republic of Congo in Abuja, for a 4-1 aggregate win.
On their part, South Africa’s Basetsana had a
close call as they managed to edge the Zambia U-20 girls 3-2 in the return leg
in South Africa, following a 0-0 draw by both teams in Zambia.
Forward Linda Motlhalo scored twice and Mosili
Makhoali got the other goal for Basetsana at the Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa.
Nigeria will host the first leg at the National
Stadium, Abuja on October 24, with the return leg in Johannesburg two weeks
later. The winner qualifies for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, to be
staged in Papua New Guinea.
Africa’s second representative will emerge from
the other end of the qualifying table, with Ghana and Ethiopia looking good to
make the final round.
The Black Princesses won 1-0 away to Equatorial
Guinea before Sunday’s return leg in Kumasi, and Ethiopia won 2-0 away to
Burkina Faso ahead of their return leg in Addis Ababa next weekend after
political tension in the West African nation delayed their fixture.
