Nigeria's Dennerby and South Africa's Ellis upbeat despite tricky Women's World Cup pairing

Nigeria coach Thomas Dennerby believes his side can progress after being paired with hosts France, Norway, South Korea in Saturday's 2019 Fifa Women's World Cup draw held in France.
 
The nine-time African champions will begin their quest for glory against the Grasshoppers in Reims on June 7, 2019, 13 years after they met in Sweden, where the loss 8-0 in 1995.

Four days later, the team will tackle the Asian giants in Grenoble for the first time since 2003 in United States, before taking on  Le Bleus in their last group tie in Rennes on June 12, 2019.

And the Swede is not moved by the pedigree of his opponents handed them at the draw which took place at the La Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt.

"I’m happy with the group. Could have been better and could have been worse," Dennerby told Goal.

"We have a good chance to come to the knockout games. Norway and Korea DPR, yes, we can definitely give them really tough games. With a good day at work, we can beat them. 

"France is one of the favorites but we will give them a fight. A draw game would be a success.  But most important is that we have a good chance to go past the group stage. 

"The two games against Norway and Korea DPR are very open games and we a very good chance to come through to the knockout stages."

Banyana coach Desire Ellis, who face Spain on June 8 in Le Harve, is confident her side can achieve the impossible after being pitched against Germany, China and Spain in Group B.

"Yes, we've found ourselves in a tough group. just as I think all groups are tough. There are no easy games anymore," Ellis told Goal.

"Well, when we came to AWCON no one gave us a chance of qualifying and the talk was Nigeria Cameroon and Ghana and here we are at the world cup.

"I know the World Cup is so many more levels up from AWCON but we just have to triple our efforts in planning, preparing and execution of our plans.

"We have competed at back-to-back Olympics in 2012 and 2016 but this is the ultimate for most players.

"To play at the World Cup, we must make sure that when the World Cup is one that people will remember us and that we will no longer be ignored."