Young forward Jenat Akeremkowei has expressed gratitude to her teammates after being named Player of the Match in the opening game of the WAFU B U20 Championship, following a standout performance for the Falconets.
Akeremkowei highlighted that while the individual award is satisfying, the result and the way the team played were more important. She said: “I want to keep improving, keep helping the team, and hopefully continue to make an impact in the tournament.”
In the match, Nigeria took control with Akeremkowei scoring—once from a penalty and again just before half time to help secure a strong start to the competition. The opposition managed to pull one back, but a late goal restored the cushion for the Falconets.
Editorial
In youth women’s football, the loyal refrain that team surpasses talent often holds truer than in senior ranks. Tonight, Jenat Akeremkowei, awarded for her individual performance, chose to elevate the collective. That choice speaks volumes.
Her brace and subsequent accolade might easily have been framed as a personal breakthrough and in one sense they were. But by directing the attention back to the Falconets’ team ethic she reminds us that even star moments are shaped in shared trenches in the timing of a pass, the cover from midfield, the precision of a penalty earned. The game’s architecture is rarely individual.
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Nigeria’s U20 women’s system has long sought players who can carry both flair and functional discipline. Akeremkowei now offers a case study in that synthesis. Her finishing was clinical her quotes were grounded. She celebrated the award but also reinvested it: “I want to keep improving, keep helping the team.” That is the language of sustained ambition, not fleeting momentum.
The tournament ahead will pose sharper tests. Opponents will analyse her runs coaches will tap into the Falconets’ interplay. And if Nigeria are to convert this promising start into silverware, the alignment between her individual talent and the team’s collective horsepower must deepen. Because in West African football, youth tournaments are not about discovering one player they are about forging many.
In short, Akeremkowei’s night is both arrival and indicator. She arrived; now the indicator will be how she and the team build. The Falconets are not just hunting results. They are trialling identity. And in that sense, her statement wasn’t just about a goal or an award it was about a standard.
Did You Know?
- Jenat Akeremkowei stepped up to take the penalty that opened the scoring for Nigeria in their WAFU B U20 opener.
- The tournament draw pits the Falconets against the host country in their next match, giving them an early chance to assert dominance away from home.
- Akeremkowei’s award as Player of the Match follows a season in which she was the top-scorer for her youth club side in domestic youth competition.
- The WAFU B U20 Championship offers qualification pathways for larger CAF youth tournaments performance here could accelerate national team opportunities.
- Nigeria’s youth female teams have had a strong recent history in regional tournaments, making this opening win and performance one step in a broader trajectory of dominance.
