Posted by By EMMA NJOKU on
Africa's undisputed soccer queens, Nigeria's Super Falcons, look good to complete the routing of their Namibian counterparts this afternoon inside the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium.
Africa's undisputed soccer queens, Nigeria's Super Falcons, look good to complete the routing of their Namibian counterparts this afternoon inside the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium.
Both sides clash in the return leg of the first round qualifying fixtures for this year's Africa Women's Championship (AWC) slated for Equatorial Guinea in November.
The defending champions, Falcons, go into today's match with an emphatic 3-0 victory in the first leg encounter decided a fortnight ago in Windhoek, Namibia.
Prior to that game, both sides had only met in a two-legged international friendly match in 2001. In the two encounters, all of which were played in Namibia, the Nigerian girls massacred their hosts 13-0 and 10-0 respectively.
Although the latest scoreline suggested that the Namibian Queen have improved tremendously in the round leather game, analysts still believe that they have a near zero chance of up-turning the table against the Falcons.
The Nigerian team have the intimidating record of having won the AWC's trophy in all the five previous editions right from the maiden edition in 1998. And with the presence of former African Female Footballer of the Year, Perpetua Nkwocha, as well as the reigning African Female Soccer Queen, Cynthia Uwak among other quality players in the squad, the Namibian girls can only play and pray for a respectably scoreline, as defeat obviously stares them in the face.
Other players expected to be on duty for Nigeria this afternoon are the veteran trio of captain Kikelomo Ajayi, diminutive right-winger, Stella Mbachu and midfield workaholic, Effioanwan Ekpo. Also to play are defender Christy George, Ulumma Jerome, Ayisat Yusuf and petit striker, Akudo Iwuagwu.
This is the first time the Super Falcons have had to play in the qualifying series of the AWC. They qualified for the maiden edition of the tournament in 1998 as the host team and had subsequently qualified automatically for the finals of the biannual championship as defending champions, having lifted the trophy at all the editions of the event.
Meanwhile, the technical department of the Nigerian team, headed by Coach Jossey Lad, received a boost with the return of erstwhile coach of the Super Falcons, Ismaila Mabo, who was named as the team's camp coordinator in the recent appointment of national team coaches.
Mabo, who had since joined the team in camp, is expected to lend his wealth of experience to the technical crew to ensure they succeed.
The Falcons, who have a busy schedule, will keep dates with the Black Queens of Ghana and the Bayana Bayana of South Africa next weekend and in two weeks time respectively. The two fixtures are crucial for Nigeria's qualification for the female soccer event in the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, China.