Posted by By EMMA NJOKU on
Nigeria's Under-19 female football team, the Falconets, face a daunting task this afternoon in Yaounde when they take on their Cameroonian counterparts in an African qualifier for the FIFA Under-19 Women's Championship holding in Chile later in the year.
* Walk tight rope against Cameroon en route Chile
Nigeria's Under-19 female football team, the Falconets, face a daunting task this afternoon in Yaounde when they take on their Cameroonian counterparts in an African qualifier for the FIFA Under-19 Women's Championship holding in Chile later in the year.
The Coach Dan Evumena-tutored side walk a tight rope after struggling to beat the Cameroonian girls by a slim 1-0 scoreline in the first leg encounter decided a fortnight ago inside the magnificent Abuja National Stadium.
But Evumena, who blamed the low scoreline against the Central African nation on inexperience on the part of his girls, has expressed confidence that the Falconets would go past Cameroon this afternoon on the way to Nigeria's fourth consecutive appearance at the global tournament.
To underline the importance of today's encounter, the former Delta Queens coach has strengthened the team with the inclusion of six professional Super Falcons players, who are within the age bracket of the competition. Prominent among them are the duo of Rita Chikwelu and Chichi Igho, both of who are strikers.
Both players are expected to add bite to the Falconets' attack to ensure the goalscoring worries experienced in the first leg encounter become a thing of the past by pumping enough goals into the net of the Cameroonians right in front of their home fans.
The Falconets need just a goalless scoreline from today's encounter to book passage to the next round in the qualifying series, while the Lionesses must win by two unreplied goals to stop Nigeria from going to the Chile event.
The winners of the two-legged encounter will meet the winners of the fixture between Ghana's Princesses and Botswana's female Under-19 national team in the next stage of the qualifiers.
The Falconets have featured in all the previous editions of the FIFA Under-19 Women's Championship since the tournament was introduce in 2002 with the maiden edition held in Canada.
Thailand held the second edition in 2004, while the third edition was held in Russia in 2006.
Nigeria's best outing at the world championship was recorded at the second edition in Thailand, when the Felix Ibeh Ukwu-tutored Falconets got to the quarterfinal stage.