Abuja (Nigeria), April 22 (IANS): Nigeria hope to reach the semifinals in the FIFA's U-20 Women's World Cup to be hosted by Canada in August

With an appearance in the previous World Cup semifinal, the West African country's U20 female team, also known as Falconets, would have surpassed their previous records, Dilichukwu Onyedinma, a board member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said here Tuesday, reports Xinhua.

"The Falconets will come into camp in the next one or two months but we want to start preparing them with friendly matches. All expectations are that the team should go beyond the stage it reached before and, if not, the semifinals. But I am looking at the team playing in the final this year," said Onyedinma.

She noted the U-17 team which went to Costa Rica in March did not start playing friendly matches on time when they were preparing for the World Cup.

Nigeria have been drawn in group C with Mexico, South Korea and England in the tournament slated for Aug 5-24.