Mansur Abdullahi, the Falconets’ assistant coach, on Friday in Abuja said the team has been working towards winning the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in France.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the national under-20 women team’s best outing at the mundial is the runners-up position in 2010 and 2014, losing both times to Germany.

“Our predecessors played in the finals but we are looking beyond playing in the final, we are aiming at winning the trophy.

“The players are ready and in the right frame of mind. So, we are confident of a better outing this time around.

“ The team will wipe away the tears Nigerians shed over the non-performance of the Super Eagles in Russia. We have what it takes to win the trophy,’’ Abdullahi said.

Speaking also, team head coach Christopher Danjuma said they were ready to take on Germany in their first Group D game on Aug. 6.

“The Germans denied us the opportunity to lift the trophy on two occasions, and I can admit that the team has good speed, but my players are also ready to curtail them.

“A team that plays fast mostly take a ball one on one, or mostly launch balls forward. What you need to do is to make sure they don’t have room to do that.

“You close down the space, leaving them no room to run behind you or in the middle and deny them the ability to launch balls forward,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the Falconets will depart Friday 11 p.m. for Germany, from where they will head to Austria for a training tour.

From Austria, the team will depart to France, venue of the16-team tournament, where they will be making their ninth appearance, having participated in the event since inception in 2002.

Nigeria will later take on debutants Haiti on Aug. 9 and the Peoples Republic of China on Aug. 13.

NAN reports that the competition is billed for Aug. 5 to Aug. 24.