In the last edition in Germany in 2010, they got to the finals but lost out to host, Germany in a tense final but now must be thinking of bringing the U-20 home.

The Falconets qualified for the World Cup by beating Zimbabwe and DR Congo, scoring 13 times and conceding none. They overwhelmed DR Congo 7-0 on aggregate and dumped out Zimbabwe 6-0 on aggregate in the last qualifying round.

 

One of the stars of the team, Desire Oparanozie, who is already a full-fledged Falcon, believes there is pressure on the team to perform better than they did in Germany in 2010 where she scored two goals.

“We know the pressure is on Nigeria because of our performance at the last World Cup,” said Desire Oparanozie to FIFA.com

“But we are working towards posting another good outing,” added the lanky striker.

 

The team will be counting on the experience of several players who featured at the Germany tourney to do better in Japan. These include Gloria Ofoegbu, Oparanozie, Esther Uchechi, Esther Sunday, Ebere Orji and Blessing Edoho and Francisca Ordega.

Nigeria are drawn in Group B against football power-house, Brazil, Korea Republic and 2012 European semi-finalists Italy.

Ofoegbu, captain of the side will lead 34 other players to the Serob Legacy Hotel, Wuye, Abuja camp to begin preparations on Sunday.