The Nigerian women’s basket team coach Rena Wakama expressed her confidence ahead of tonight’s quarter final encounter with heavyweights United States of America at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
USA will be looking for their 59th straight Olympic win on route to an eighth consecutive gold medal but Nigeria, ranked number 12 overall in the world, is confident of causing yet another upset at the Paris Games.
When journalist Austin Okon-Akpan asked what was behind the D’Tigress’ stunning displays at the Olympics, coach Wakama replied: “Heart, passion, the Nigerian spirit, we never give up, the resilience and the commitment to playing together has what’s been carrying us to the finish line.”
When Okon-Akpan quizzed further to see whether the nerves were getting to her team, Wakama’s reply was one of assurance D’Tigress were prepared for their opponents.
“No one thought we [would] win a game here, so we are going to keep on doing what we do and make a shock to the world”, the 32 year-old added.
Both sides last met during the Olympic qualifying tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, where the USA beat Nigeria 100-46 but D’tigress head coach insisted her girls were ready take on the Americans.
“We are really excited because we want to play the best of the best”, Wakama said in a virtual interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) done previously.
“We believe that everything happened for a reason. We met them already in Belgium but we did not play our best, so we are looking forward to meeting them again.
“I think the first game that we played with them was an eye opener. We were able to watch the game and break down what we did wrong.
“We were able to see what we did well and I think now that our girls have the experience of playing against them, it would help a lot.
“We’ve also played about five games now, we have had three friendly and three matches here so we are going into the game confidently.
“Playing well and we have a great addition to the team (Ezinne), that brings another level of intensity and experience to us. So, we are looking forward to doing what we do and doing it well” Wakama concluded.
Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s contest, D’Tigress and Rena Wakama have already made a global statement that there is more to come from Nigerian women’s basketball.
