The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Falcons

  • Falcons beat gallant Namibia 2-0

    Falcons beat gallant Namibia 2-0

    Two quick goals in the first half from Gloria Ofoegbu and Francisca Ordega helped the Super Falcons to secure a 2-0 win over the Brave Gladiators of Namibia in one of the last round of matches in Group A decided at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek, yesterday.

    The scoreline perhaps flattered the coach Godwin Okon-tutored side as the Nigerian side which rested about seven key regulars fought desperately to keep the rampaging, young Namibians at bay in a partisan crowd that kept on cheering the home side.

    In yesterday’s game, coach Okon opted to start veteran striker, Perpetua Nkwocha ahead of the tournament’s leading goalscorer, Desire Oparanozie but it was the young Namibians who, obviously in search of points to progress, took the match to the Nigerians.

    The Brave Warriors star player, Zenatha Coleman should have put the host ahead in the early minutes but she kicked a sitter over the bar with goalkeeper Ibubeleye Whyte already beaten.

    The Namibians would rue that miss later in the 35th minute when their goalkeeper Lydia Eixas committed a blunder by leaving her area to take a kick and Ofoegbu, who was playing her first game of the championship, curled the free kick into the net to give the Falcons the lead against the run of play.

    Barely two minutes later, Sweden-based Francisca Ordega, who was unarguably Nigeria’s best player on the day, latched onto a pass from Esther Sunday, rounded up the Namibian goalkeeper and placed the ball in an empty net to double Nigerians’ lead.

    In the second half, coach Okon brought in midfield maestro Halimatu Ayinde and Glory Iroka to stabilize the midfield as the Namibians continued to search for a morale-boosting goal which never came.

    As the game was winding up, coach Okon gave another veteran, 36-year-old Stella Mbachu her first game of the tournament when she came in for Cecilia Nku in the 85th minute.

    Having emerged as group winners, the Super Falcons will now face the runners up of Group B next week. The teams in Group B will play their last round of matches today simultaneously at the Independence Stadium and Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek.

  • South Africa are Falcons’ biggest threat, says Oparanozie

    South Africa are Falcons’ biggest threat, says Oparanozie

    EnAvant Guingamp of France striker, Desire Ugochi Oparanozie is delighted for an opportunity to attend her second African Women Championship (AWC) after her triumphant trip to the 2010 edition in South Africa. She tells SportingLife’s TUNDE LIADI of the spirit in the present Super Falcons’ camp and the country’s likely biggest foes at the 8th AWC in Namibia which runs from 11 to 25 October, 2014 as well as her club career. EXCERPTS…

     

    SPORTINGLIFE: Good to have you back in the national team after the tussle with your club over your release for the 2015 African Women Championship (AWC) slated for Namibia

    I’m always happy to come play for my country because it is an honour to be chosen from millions of Nigerians that are in the round leather game. I’m happy that I’m back to render my help in the interest of the Super Falcons.

    I have put the events that transpired leading to my eventual release by my club behind me and I have my eyes focused on the AWC and ensuring that I achieve a personal target of winning my second trophy for Nigeria after the 2010 AWC in South Africa.

     

    What should Nigerians be expecting from Oparanozie and the rest of the Super Falcons when the competition kicks off on Saturday (today)?

    Nigerians should be expecting from us the trophy because it is our modest target. We have won it before on numerous occasions and winning it again is our ambition. It won’t be easy because other Africans are striving to catch up with us, but we won’t relent. We have resolved to improve on our game to ensure that this time nothing stands in our way and the trophy.

     

    The Falcons are grouped with the hosts, Namibia, Ivory Coast and Zambia. Are you going to be bothered by any of these countries?

    We are not afraid of any of our first round opponents because we are Super Falcons and have won the AWC a record six times out of eight editions. We respect the three countries but we are going to take them one after the other when the competition begins. We don’t have to brag about anything because on a good day, we are capable of beating anybody.

     

    With the absence of Equatorial Guinea in Namibia, the Falcons will face the Ivory Coast in the first game on Saturday (today). What should we expect from you and your team-mates?

    We are in Namibia with the sole objective of winning the trophy and we know the importance of ensuring that we get all the three points in our first game. We don’t know much about Ivory Coast besides the fact that they eliminated the defending champions, the Equatorial Guinea.

    We will take them as they come, we are going to give them their due although we will be very professional when the game kicks off.

     

    Which country are the greatest threat to Falcons’ quest to win a record seventh African crown?

    I will say it is ourselves that we have the greatest worry for, about whether we are going to win or not. But on a larger scale I believe it is only South Africa that is our major worry and not even Ghana and Cameroon. We will know how to cross the bridge when we get there but now we must concentrate on our first round foes and when we are through to the last four we shall know how to plot the defeat of our opponents.

     

    The Super Falcons will be playing in the 2014 AWC with their eyes firmly on a place in next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. Having featured at the World Cup before when it was played in 2011 what does playing at the World Cup again mean to you?

    It is the dream of every player to play in the World Cup and I am not an exception. It was cool playing in the World Cup three years ago. I was quite young then but now I am more mature and raring to go this term. I am happy that the list is a blend of the young and the experienced. It will pay off in Namibia but what we just need to do is to put our acts together and work for the interest of our country.

     

    On February 21, 2014 news hit Nigerian media that you had moved to Atasehir Belediyespor to play in the Turkish Women’s First Football League from Germany, but not too long ago you surfaced in the French League with  En Avant Guingamp. What informed your decision to leave for Turkey and now France within a very short time after you left WFL Wolfsburg?

    Football is better enjoyed when one is part of the decision makers. It becomes very uninteresting if you are made to sit on the bench without game time. When I was with Wolfsburg, I was not getting the playing time I desired, so I had to leave. We both agreed that we should cancel the contract mutually. It was also similar in Turkey but I’m happy to inform you that I have started enjoying the game again since I got to France.

  • NFF insists on Falcons’ overseas pros

    NFF insists on Falcons’ overseas pros

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will leave no stone unturned in trying to secure the release of several players of the Super Falcons ahead of the 2014 African Women’s Championships (AWC) in Namibia.

    The European clubs of several integral members of the Falcons – Perpetua Nkwocha, Esther Sunday, Onome Ebi and Desire Oparanozie – have expressed unwillingness to release the players on the grounds that the AWC is not on the FIFA calendar.

    The NFF has, however, expressed optimism that the foreign-based national senior team players would join the team’s camp soon ahead of the AWC in Namibia.

    The federation’s technical director, Emmanuel Ikpeme, disclosed that the football house is keen to see the players arrive at camp in time for early preparations.

    “The truth of the matter is that they will make it to the camp. We are in touch with them; they have some matches, you know their league is still going on,” Ikpeme told supersport.com.

    He added that the NFF is in constant contact with the players with a view to getting them cleared to join the Nigerian squad.

    “We are in contact with them and they have told us they will definitely come to be part of the squad.

    “Having said that, assuming that some of them cannot make it, we have good players who can take their positions,” he said.

    The last three months have seen Nigerian football hog the headlines for the wrong reasons with consistent crises at the NFF. Ikpeme, however, insists that the furore at the NFF has not affected the preparations of the Falcons for the AWC.

    “For now, I can’t really say but it is not ruled out; but the crisis in the NFF has affected so many things.

    “Initially, we had such plans and the plans are still there, but it is very difficult to say, because the bottom line of all these is funds. The FA is having serious challenge of funds now.

    “Of course I have confidence in the team because they have pedigree with regards to the AWC.

    “I am also happy with the fact that a few of them from the national under-20 team, the Falconets, have been added to this team and they are doing very well.

    “With the plans we have for them before the competition starts, I want to believe that they will be physically and mentally ready for the competition.

    “I made them to know that we are not just going to Namibia to participate.

    “They have to win that trophy although it is not their birth right, they have the capacity and competence to win that trophy,” Ikpeme said.

    The Super Falcons have been in camp since September 14 preparing for the AWC.

    Only one of the six overseas-based players invited for the AWC has arrived in camp.

    Nigeria are in Group A of the AWC alongside Zambia, the Ivory Coast and hosts Namibia.

    The top three sides at the 2014 AWC, which gets under way in October, will represent Africa at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

  • Falcons still no. 1 in Africa

    Falcons still no. 1 in Africa

    Football governing body, FIFA, has released the latest ranking of Women’s National Teams for the period ended September 19, 2014.

    Compared to their ranking in the last quarter, Africa powerhouse, the Falcons of Nigeria have dropped a position and now occupy the 35th position.

    But the eight – time continental champions remain the top team in Africa , followed by Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa in that order.

    Ivory Coast, Namibia and Zambia- are ranked 64th, 113th and 116th respectively.

    USA, Germany, Japan, France and Sweden are the top five countries in the world.

    The next world ranking will be published by the official website of FIFA,fifa.com,on December 19,2014.

  • NFF CRISIS FALLOUT: Broke NFF can’t pay Falcons’ hotel bills

    NFF CRISIS FALLOUT: Broke NFF can’t pay Falcons’ hotel bills

    • Glass House barely able to feed players

    • Referees owed

    The crisis bedeviling football in Nigeria has now eaten deep into the finances of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and is affecting payment of the football house bills, NationSport has scooped.

    The recent power tussle at the Glass House has made it difficult for the federation’s leaders to access funds directly and independently from a variety of sources like they used to in the past and this has resulted in the NFF being unable to honour its financial commitments.

    “It hurts me that there is no money to manage the programmes of the federation now and people are busy doing politics,” an NFF official lamented to NationSport.

    The source continued: “As it is now the federation is finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries and owes a lot of people including the hotel where the Super Falcons, who are currently in camp preparing for the African Women’s championship (AWC), are lodged.”

    “We are just managing to see that those girls feed, even the hotel where they are lodged, we owe them a lot but they are still indulging us because of the long-term relationship we have had with them. Even the referees, we owe them a lot of money.”

    The federation has made a lot of financial commitments which may soon expose this secret of how bankrupt the NFF is.

    “Imagine that we could take a match to Gabon where it will be easy for us, but look at the kind of embarrassment that followed it”, the source lamented.

  • Ebola scare!

    Ebola scare!

    Dreaded virus made hospital reject late Falcons coach

    Late Ntiero Effiom, former chief coach of the national women’s soccer team,the Super Falcons,was rejected by the state’s General Hospital because of the scare of ebola, reports has emerged.

    Ntiero according to his wife, Nkoyo, died on Wednesday afternoon after he broke down on Sunday morning while they were preparing to go to church.

    In an emotion laden voice,Mrs Nkoyo Effiom disclosed that the Africa Women’s Championship gold medal winning coach was at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar on Saturday where he watched the Super Eagles 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers game against the Red Devils of Congo.

    “He had been treating himself for malaria but we later found out that it was Typhoid.After he came back from the Super Eagles game on Saturday he was fine as he went to bed. He woke up soundly on Sunday morning and told me as usual to have my bath first before he would take his. But when I got back to the bedroom, I met my husband struggling to stand up from the bed and was saying some strange things I couldn’t understand.

    “We rushed him to the State’s General Hospital,Calabar but he was rejected due to the Ebola scare. When he was eventually examined in a private hospital, the doctor said he suffered a stroke and a part of his brain had been badly damaged. But this was strange as he was never hypertensive.

    “He received treatment at the hospital until he died on Wednesday afternoon,leaving behind six children. Ntiero would have turned 68 years old on November 22, but the cold hands of death did not allow him.”

    The President of the Female Football Interest Group (FFIG), Henrietta Ukaigwe, expressed shock on the news of Ntiero’s death. “Coach Ntiero was instrumental to the development of women’s football in Nigeria as he assisted Ismaila Mabo for some time before he took over as chief coach.”

    She said in a press statement signed by the group’s Secretary General, Dapo Sotuminu, that the late coach helped Nigeria qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and also won gold in one of the editions of the Africa Women’s Championship. He was a dedicated coach who took all the Falcons players in his team like his daughters.

    “The Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) should immortalize this illustrious son on the country who gave his all while on national duty as coach of the national team. He was scandal free in the national team.”

  • Ex-Falcons coach, Ntierro dead

    Ex-Falcons coach, Ntierro dead

    Ex-Super Falcons chief coach, Ntierro Effion, whose contributions helped popularise the women’s game in Nigeria, is dead.

    The one time national team handler, who won the 2006 Africa Women Championship title, passed on in the early hours of Wednesday, September 10 at Bako Specalist Hospital in Calabar, leaving behind a wife and six children. His body has since been embalmed at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital

    Confirming the sad development to SportingLife, Pelican Stars of Calabar team manager, Honourable Ani Ita said Effiom suddenly took ill on Sunday and was rushed immediately to the hospital.

    “He was on admission since Sunday evening after complaining of headache. On  Sunday he could not talk, it was the same situation on Monday until he died,” said Ita.

    Ita, who is still in a state of shock as he recounted his last moments with the late Effiom to SportingLife, said the one time Pelican Stars coach was in sound condition, the day before he fell sick.  “On Saturday evening we spoke extensively on the Nigeria vs Congo match which he told me he watched on TV and sounded very well over the phone. He analysed the game with me  and spoke so well. I never knew that was going to be my last meeting with him,”said Ita.

    Effiom, who only retired a few months back from the state sports council after several years as head coach of Pelican Stars, a period the club won all its league and FA Cup titles from 1995 to 2000.

    He also handled the Nigeria U-20 women’s team to the maiden 2002 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. Nigeria exited the competition at the preliminary stage.

    In 2007, Effiom was again called upon by the football authorities to coach the senior team, Super Falcons to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China, the same year. Unfortunately the team crashed out in the group stage. The team’s ouster was blamed on him by the NFF following a protest from the players to boycott matches over the non-payment of their allowances.

  • Falcons are title contenders —Adeleye

    Falcons are title contenders —Adeleye

    Niger Tornadoes striker Samson Adeleye said there won’t be any excuses if the country does not win the 2014 African Women’s Championship after praising head coach Edwin Edem Okon’s attacking style.

    The Super Falcons last won the continental title in 2010 and they placed fourth at the last championship in Equatorial Guinea.

    Nigeria’s 12-1 aggregate win over Rwanda in the qualifier puts the current playing staff in good position to win a seventh continental silverware.

    “It’s time we win something for the country and I think it should happen in Windhoek” Adeleye told SL10.

    “The professionalism of the coach and how he’s putting things in place gives me confidence that we should win something.

    “The backroom staff that also includes Christopher Danjuma and the quality in the squad will give us an edge over others.

    “The way we’re playing, we are looking very dangerous and we’ll be candidates in the finals at the South African region no matter what.”

  • African Women Championship: Namibia coach plots Falcons downfall

    African Women Championship: Namibia coach plots Falcons downfall

    Namibia will host the 2014 Africa Women Championship slated to start on October 11 .

    The head coach of the Namibian national women football team, Jacqueline Shipanga has acknowledged after the draw for the competition held on Saturday that he’s got some tough battle to conquer even though he believes that his girls are determined and confident to do well against Nigeria’s Super Falcons and the other teams in Group A.

    Shipanga told CAFonline that Namibia have been paired in a very tough group where the host nation, Namibia will face tournament favourite Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire who eliminated defending champions Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers.

    “We have been paired in a very tough group, especially if you are to face Nigeria (six-time winners) and Cote d’Ivoire, which eliminated holders Equatorial Guinea during the qualifiers.”

    “Zambia is in the same situation just as being first timers. Looking at it, it is a group of death.”

    “From now,we want to engage stronger teams to get better. Namibia has one of the youngest teams but the girls are extremely determined and confident to do well,” Shipanga told CAFonline.

  • Falcons coach insists AWC draw not easy

    Falcons coach insists AWC draw not easy

    Nigeria women’s coach, Edwin Okon, has maintained that the 2014 African Women’s Championship (AWC) draw that pits his team against hosts Namibia and Zambia will not be as easy as it looks.

    According to the draws which took place in Windhoek on Saturday, Nigeria were drawn in Group A with Namibia, Zambia and Cote d’ Ivoire, while Group B has South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana and Algeria.

    Okon said the group on paper looks easy for the Falcons, but was also quick to warn that the Ivorians, who eliminated 2012 champions Equatorial Guinea and Namibia should not be treated lightly.

    “All the eight teams that qualified for the competition are good and determined to win the AWC title and that is why we won’t underrate any team. There are no push overs in women’s football any longer in Africa,” Okon said.

    “With Cote d’Ivoire sending defending champions Equatorial Guinea out and a Namibian side that will be well motivated by the home fans in our group, it will be foolhardy for the Super Falcons to be complacent.

    “They might look at Group B and say that it is the group of death, but the reality is that Group A that has the hosts and a team that beat the cup holders cannot be written off. It is not going to be easy but we won’t disappoint Nigerians.”

    He assured that the Falcons would do everything possible to qualify from the group and try to win back the trophy they lost in 2012 to Equatorial Guinea.

    Okon also revealed that he has requested for three international warm-ups for the Falcons ahead of the competition and plans for them to open training camp in August.

    The 2014 AWC will be staged from October 11 to 25 in Namibia.

    The winners,runners-up and third-place winners will represent Africa at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada next year.