The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Falconets

  • France 2018: Ajibade’s goal sends Falconets to Q/finals

    Falconets

    The Super Falconets of Nigeria had the last smile of the crunch encounter with China on Monday despite the opponents early lead.

    Th Falconets got a stoppage-time goal from captain Rasheedat Ajibade to earn a highly dramatic 1-1 draw to advance to the quarter-finals of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 from Group D.

    China PR were the more dangerous side in the first half at the Stade du Clos Gastel. Mengyu Shen had the first chance of the match in the 25th minute when she hit the Nigeria crossbar. A few minutes later, captain Linlin Wang headed over the target from close range.

    China PR’s breakthrough came four minutes before half-time, as the diminutive Linyan Zhang turned her Nigerian marker in the box and stroked the ball past a diving Chiamaka Nnadozie to give the Asians the lead at the break.

    The Super Falconets pushed hard to find an equaliser in the second half, but found the China PR backline and goalkeeper Huan Xu in resilient form until the end of the contest.

    Ajibade became Nigeria’s hero when she converted the Aishat Bello’s 95th minutes cross at the near post to set up a quarter-final fixture against Spain on Thursday 16th August.

    The goal sparked a church-like Halleluyah celebrations from the West Africans at the full-time whistle.

  • Falconets get $2,000 each ahead China clash

    Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s National Team have each been paid $2,000 for their 1-0 victory against Haiti in the group stage of the ongoing World Cup in France.

    The Honourable Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung said on Sunday stating the players and officials were also paid their daily camp allowances till August 13, 2018.

    The minister made this known in a press statemenbt made available on Sunday afternoon.

    “I believe that the Falconets have been well motivated for Monday’s game against China and I’ve been assured by the players that they will play out their hearts to get a quarter final ticket.

    “The U-20 Women’s team have been in the final in 2010 and 2014 and I know that you all will work hard to repeat that success in 2018. Like I earlier promised, all your entitlements will be offset soon but you will get a personal token of $10,000 from me if you beat China on Monday.

    “As a country we have identified our areas of strength and comparative advantage of which women’s football is one of them and we will need to invest more in it. On behalf of the His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari and the good people of Nigeria, I wish you a successful outing against China on Monday,” Sports Minister Solomon Dalung said.

    Dalung also said he is optimistic that the Falconets of Nigeria will clinch the second quarter final ticket to finish as runners up of Group D.

    The Falconets who face China in their last group D match on Monday only need a draw to advance to the next round.

    Nigeria are currently 2nd in Group D with 3 points behind leaders Germany who have 6. China are 3rd with 3 points and Haiti have no points.

  • France 2018: Falconets record first win, defeat Haiti 1-0

    Super Falconets have brightened their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage of the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in France by defeating Haiti by one goal to nil on Thursday.
    Rasheedat Ajibade scored the lone goal of the match played under very hot weather in Saint Malo on Thursday afternoon.
    Falconets striker, Rasheedat Ajibade

    Ajibade converted a spot kick after a falconets player was carelessly tackled in the 18-yard box few minutes to the first 45 minutes of the 90 minutes encounter.

    The win will be warmly welcomed by coach Chris Danjuma whose side narrowly lost 1-0 to Germany in the Group D opener on Monday.
    Nigeria will  take on China in Dinan-Léhon for their third match.

  • FiFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: Germany defeat Nigeria 1-0

    The Falconets have lost their first match at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in France in an encounter against their perennial rivals, Germany, on Monday.

    The Nigerian U-20 girls lost by a lone goal in the Group D encounter played in Saint Malo, France.

    The first match of the group ended goalless after the first 45 minutes, but Germany however broke the deadlock in the 69th minute as Stefani Sanders converted a close range ball played from corner-kick.

    All efforts by the Coach Christopher Danjuma led- side to level up proved abortive till the end of the 90-minute encounter.

    The Falconets are making their ninth appearance in the biennial championship which began in 2002 in Canada. They have featured in all the editions and were runners up in 2010 and 2014 losing both finals to Germany.

    The Falconets who have impressive records in the championship failed to qualify from the group stages only twice in 2002 when they debuted in Canada and the last edition in Papua New Guinea where they lost out to Spain on goal difference. 

    The team’s next fixture is against Haiti on Thursday.

     

  • Falconets jet out for training tour of Austria

    The National Under-20 female team, the Falconets will depart the country on Friday aboard Air France for Austria, for a two-week training tour ahead of the FIFA Under-20 women World Cup in France.

    The team will depart the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 11 pm, to arrive the Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris in the early hours of July 21, before leaving for Munich, Germany from where they will head to Austria.

    The team, which has been in camp in Abuja, is expected to fine-tune its preparations for the Under-20 women World Cup in Austria by playing some friendly matches with some local teams.

    The Christopher Danjuma-tutored side will travel with 25 players, while four of them will be dropped after the camping exercise in Austria before the team departs for France, venue of the championship.

    The Falconets will depart Austria for France, venue of the Under-20 women world Cup on August 2, for the championship, which begins on August 5 through 24.

    Nigeria has had an impressive record at the championship finishing second twice in 2010 in Germany losing to the host 0-2 and 2014 in Canada again to Germany 0-1 and fourth in 2012 in Japan when we lost to Japan 1-2 but failed to make it beyond the group stage in 2016 in Papua New Guinea.

    The Falconets have taken part in all editions of the champion-ships which began in 2002 in Canada and remains the most successful national women’s team at the global stage.

  • France 2018: Falconets draw Germany, China, Haiti

    France 2018: Falconets draw Germany, China, Haiti

    Nigeria’s Under 20 girls, Falconets have been drawn in the same pool as perennial foes Germany, China and Haiti in Group D of the 9th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup taking place in France from August 5 to 24.

    At the Draw Ceremony held inside the Opera House, Rennes yesterday, Africa’s other flagbearers Ghana were thrown into the same Group A as hosts France, New Zealand and The Netherlands.

    Group B is headed by Korea DPR and also has England, Mexico and Brazil, while USA, Japan, Paraguay and Spain will battle it out in Group C.

    Two -time runners up Falconets begin their campaign with a huge test, against Germany at the Stade de Marville in Saint-Malo on August 6. Germany edged Nigeria to lift the trophy the two times Nigeria got to the championship final- in 2010 in Germany and 2014 in Canada.

    Chris Danjuma’s maidens will then be up against Haiti three days later at the same venue, before moving to Dinan-Léhon, where they play China at the Stade du Clos Gastel on August 13.

    Ghana will go up against hosts France in the tournament’s opening match in Vannes August 5. Concarneau is the other city that will host matches during the championship.

    Nigeria’s Group D opponents Haiti will be taking part in their first ever FIFA women’s tournament, and FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura said: “I’d like to send my regards and warmly congratulate Haiti, who just qualified for their first ever FIFA women’s tournament, on their remarkable road to France. Well done, girls, for taking this huge step.

    “It’s so encouraging to see these young girls pointing the way forward through football. For FIFA, increasing the participation of women in football is an imperative. The development of women’s football is at the top of our list of priorities in our strategy ‘FIFA 2.0: The Vision for Future’.”France will also host the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals.

     

  • NFF announces names of coaches for five national teams

    NFF announces names of coaches for five national teams

    The Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF ) on Monday in Abuja formally released the names of coaching crews of five national teams.

    The federation, in a statement by its Communications Department, however said the development did not relate to three other national teams.

    These three are the senior men’s team, the Super Eagles, the under-20 women’s team, the Falconets, and the under-17 women’s team, the Flamingoes, whose contracts are running.

    The statement quoted the Chairman of NFF’s Technical and Development Committee, Yusuf Ahmed, as saying the appointments were with immediate effect.

    “Our committee has done due diligence on all the names and approved the constitution of these technical crews,’’ it quoted him as saying.

    Ahmed, who is also Vice-Chairman of NFF’s Strategy Committee, said all the coaches would be unveiled at a later date, alongside the coaching crews of the Falconets and Flamingoes.

    The technical crews of the Falconets and Flamingoes were appointed earlier as a result of their World Cup qualifying campaigns.

    Following is the list of the coaches in the technical crews:

    Super Eagles B/Olympic Men’s Team: Salisu Yusuf (Head Coach); Imama Amapakabo; Kennedy Boboye; Fidelis Ilechukwu (Assistant Coaches); Alloy Agu (Goalkeepers’ Trainer)

    Under-20 Men (Flying Eagles): Paul Aigbogun (Head Coach); Abdullahi Maikaba; Abubakar Bala; Hassan Abdallah (Scouting); Suleiman Shuaibu (Goalkeepers’ Trainer)

    Under-17 Boys Team (Golden Eaglets): Manu Garba (Head Coach); Nduka Ugbade; Jolomi Ali; Bunmi Haruna (Scouting); Abideen Olatunji (Goalkeepers’ Trainer)

    Under-15 Boys Team (Future Eagles): Danladi Nasidi (Head Coach); Haruna Usman; Ahmed Dankoli; Patrick Bassey (Scouting); Ernest Salolome (Goalkeepers’ Trainer)

    Under-13 Boys Team: Jolomi Ali (Head Coach); Jude Agada; Abdullahi Tyabo; Adewale Laloko (Scouting); Adeoye Onigbinde (Goalkeepers’ Trainer).

    NAN

  • Obaseki to cheer Falconets, as they face Morocco in Benin City

    Obaseki to cheer Falconets, as they face Morocco in Benin City

    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki will on Saturday lead residents of Edo State to the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, to cheer Nigeria’s U-20 female national football team also known as the Falconets.

    The Falconets will battle the Moroccan girls in the second-leg of the U-20 FIFA Women World Cup Qualifiers on Saturday at 4 pm.

    Commissioner for Youths and Special Duties, also supervising Sports, Hon. Mika Amanokha, who spoke on behalf of the governor, said that Governor Obaseki’s presence at the stadium will give the girls the morale boost to overpower their counterparts.

    He added that necessary arrangements have been made to ensure an incident-free match, stressing that the Super Falconets have no reason not to beat Morocco in Benin City, as Edo State has become a victory ground for Nigerian national teams.

    “We are ready for the game. As you know, Edo State has become a winning ground for Nigerian national teams. This particular match is not going to be different. I am proud to say that the state governor will personally lead members of his executive to the stadium to give maximum support to our girls” he said.

    He added “We are very much committed to ensuring that the Super Falconets win the game to advance to the last stage of the qualifiers. Our goal is to support them to the last. We have to be at the World Cup in France in 2018. We are very confident that we will carry the day. We know that the Moroccans are not a push over, but with the home support, the girls will do us proud.”

  • Falconets crush Tanzania 6-0

    Falconets crush Tanzania 6-0

    Nigeria’s Falconets on Sunday gave their compatriots a memorable Independence Anniversary celebration by crushing Tanzania 6-0 in Dar-es-Salaam in the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

    A brace each by Rasheedat Ajibade and Folashade Ijamilusi and a goal each by Imo Anam and Cynthia Aku steered the Nigerian under-20 women team to a memorable victory.

    The victory gave them a 9-0 aggregate win, after having won the first leg match 3-0 two weeks earlier in Benin.

    First half of this second leg match had ended 4-0 in favour of the Falconets at the Azam Stadium.

    The win took the Falconets to a place in the second round of the African qualifying series.

    Ajibade had also netted a brace in the first leg at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, with the other goal by defender Lilian Tule.

    The two –time World Cup silver medallists will now square up against winners of the fixture between Morocco and Senegal in the second round, set for November 2017.

    NAN

  • Falconets trash Tanzanites 6-0, move to next round

    Falconets trash Tanzanites 6-0, move to next round

    A brace each by Falconets Rasheedat Ajibade and Folashade Ijamilusi and a goal each by Imo Anam and Cynthia Aku steered the Nigeria U20 women team to a 6-0 win over their Tanzanian counterparts in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.

    First half ended 4-0 in favour of the Falconets at the Azam Stadium.

    The win took the Falconets to a 9-0 aggregate win over the East Africans, and a place in the second round of the African qualifying series for next year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals.

    Ajibade also netted a brace in the first leg at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City a fortnight ago, with the other goal by defender Lilian Tule.

    The two –time World Cup silver medallists will now square up against the winner of the fixture between Morocco and Senegal in the second round, set for November 2017.