ABUJA – Ghana’s under-20 women football team coach, Bashir Hayford, has expressed optimism that Nigeria and Algeria would advance further than the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Bashir told newsmen on the sidelines of his team’s international friendly match on Friday in Abuja against Nigeria’s Falconets that both countries have made Africa proud.
Nigeria and Algeria are the only African countries left at the ongoing 2014 World Cup, after five countries started out on June 12 when the competition began.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana had all crashed out of the competition after the first round group phase of matches.
“Since we have only two African countries left, our support has shifted to them as our representatives over there. So, we are looking forward to them putting up a good fight.
“And I believe that both teams have the chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals,’’ Hayford said.
NAN reports that Nigeria qualified for the second round on Wednesday, in spite of their 2-3 loss to Argentina in their last Group F match.
Algeria on the other hand qualified on Thursday after holding Russia to a 1-1 draw.
Nigeria will now confront France on June 30 at the Estadio Nacional in Brassilia, while Algeria will face Germany at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre on the same day.(NAN)
