Justine Madugu

“Nigeria is for all of us. If there are ideas to make the team better, let’s listen. Let’s work together.”

“I’m just focused on delivering wherever I’m asked to serve. It’s not a do-or-die thing.”

“We want more exposure, more capacity building for our coaches too. Let them go on attachments abroad, understand different football cultures. That’s how we grow.”

“Our long-term goal is to close the gap with the world’s best.”

“When you make players believe in what you’re doing, magic happens.”

“Some of the players have been with me since U17 and U20. We’ve built a relationship based on care, structure, and guidance. They ask for advice even outside football — it’s personal. That unity showed on the field.”

“Discipline was non-negotiable, but we created an atmosphere where they could talk, trust, and grow.”

“You are not just coaching footballers. You are shaping lives. These young women come with dreams, struggles, and emotions. We play the role of parents too.”

“We tried to simplify everything. Before training, we’d handle theory. In training, we executed.”

“The dream was always alive - even when no one believed.”

“It wasn’t easy. People laughed. I was a civil servant, yet I coached both men’s and women’s teams. I was combining office work with football. But I believed in something bigger. God gave me the gift to read matches and analyze games even when I didn’t understand what that meant at the time.”

“When we were given this task, we knew it was huge, we weren’t just representing ourselves.”

“We all know that we are representing the entire indigenous coaches at home because our doing well is a reflection of what the Nigerian coach can do.”