Nigeria’s Flamingos head coach Akeem Busari has stressed the urgent need for his squad to maintain psychological calm and sharpen their clinical edge ahead of their decisive group-stage showdown against Korea DPR at the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The Flamingos revived their campaign with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over tournament debutants Puerto Rico at the Mohammed VI Football Complex, bouncing back from their opening-day defeat to Poland. However, Busari admitted that unlocking the CONCACAF side proved to be a stubborn test that pushed his players to the limit.

“It was a very tough game, really, for both sides,” Busari said in his post-match assessment. “We were unable to convert our chances often in the first half- a couple of misses- but quite unfortunately maybe we got the second one towards the tail end of the game, but it was a very tough game. It was there and no pushover. So, it’s getting more competitive and more contested.”

The victory marked an essential psychological recovery for the young team. Busari highlighted that managing the players’ mental state was vital to helping them shrug off the pressure of their initial setback.

“Really, as a handler, you know, when you are down, you look at it: how do you come back,” Busari explained. “And this is our sideking [psyching], and telling them the last, they were young, we don’t need to bully them, we don’t need to—you know—size them, you know, ever-counselling and telling them what they need to do.”

Pointing to the improvements on the pitch, Busari noted that his players responded positively to the guidance, displaying greater composure than they managed during the Poland fixture.

“Today they experienced an exceptional; they are calmer today than in the Poland game.”