Nigeria’s Flamingos’ clash with the US at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup has been delayed due to lightning and claps of loud thunder in the India City of Mumbai.
The stadium was also windy with a gloomy sky hovering around the arena.
Both teams had filed out and national antems played for the quarter-final clash at the D.Y.Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai expected to kick off by 12 noon Nigerian time.
But the adverse weather condition which later culminated in torrential rainfall forced officials to delay the game.
Both teams and their officials were forced back to the dressing room and spectators clustered in the available skelter to avoid bashing from the downpour.
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As of the time of this report, officials are waiting for the conditions to improve before making any announcement about the match.
While Nigeria have not gone past the last eight since the inception of the competition, Flamingos coach Bankole Olowookere is optimistic that his girls will break the jinx.
“As a coach, I have achieved getting to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but as Nigeria, we have not reached the final journey,” Olowookere told NFF TV.
“The best we have ever gotten at the U-17 Women’s World Cup is the quarter-final stage, I’m here to create a lot of upsets and set new records. We need to work hard to get to the semi-final and set a new record for the U-17 team.”
En route to the quarter-final, Nigeria lost their first game to Germany and overpowered New Zealand before beating Chile to book a last-eight spot.
Against the free-scoring Americans, Nigeria face their sternest test so far in this competition.
The Americans won two and drew one of their group-stage games.
