The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oparanozie

  • Super Falcons Oparanozie retires  from football at 29

    Super Falcons Oparanozie retires  from football at 29

    Former Super Falcons captain, Desire Oparanozie, has announced her official retirement from football at the age of 29 years.

    The Imo State-born star announced the end to her football career yesterday in a social media post.

     “To my fans, family, and friends, thank you for the show of love and support over the years. It’s time to take a bow, as I believe there’s no better time than now. I’m officially announcing my retirement from professional football for both club and country,” she said on her social media accounts.

    She thanked all the coaches who tutored her , players she played with and against as well as fans for their support in making her Football career a memorable one.

     “To every team and coach I have played for, to every mate I’ve played alongside, and to every opponent I have played against, thank you all for being part of this incredible journey. Thank you football, thank you Nigeria.- Desire Ugochi Oparanozie”

    During her 13 years career, Oparanozie played for nine different clubs taking off from Bayelsa Queens of Bayelsa State in 2010.

    Read Also: I will seek psychological help – Richarlison

    She navigated other clubs such as Delta Queens FC 2010 to 2012: Lüleburgaz 39 Spor in Turkish (loan); WFC Rossiyanka in Russia, 2012-2013; Wolfsburg in Germany (2013-2014) and Belediyespor in Turkey on loan.

    Her other clubs include Guingamp Féminine in France where she spent the greater part of her career spanning 2014 to 2020. She joined Dijon in 2020 to 2022 before she left for Asia where she joined China’s Wuhan Jianghan University F.C.

    She played 35 games for Super Falcons scoring 22 times and was a member of the team in four World Cups – 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023.

    In April 2019, she was named the new captain of Nigeria by coach Thomas Dennerby who praised her for her ‘discipline and good character’.

    Following the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, in her role as captain, she led calls for equal pay in Nigerian football citing disparity with the bonuses received by the team’s male counterparts.

    She was also been part of the Nigerian squads to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, AWCON of 2010 and 2014, 2016 and 2018 and 2022 winning all four tournaments except the last edition in Morocco where Nigeria placed fourth.

    She won the AWCON four times, Nigeria Women’s Football League, NWFL twice and claimed the Golden Boot of the 2014 AWCON

    Her last international match was against the Lionesses of England in the Round of 16 clash at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia in August. She came in as a substitute in the counter but missed her spot kick during the penalty shootout. She late apologized for this.

  • French League opener Oparanozie targets good start with Guingamp

    French League opener Oparanozie targets good start with Guingamp

    Guingamp of France striker, Desire Ugochi Oparanozie has told SportingLife that she is committed to helping her club start the French Women’s League season with a bang when they face Soyaux on Sunday in the first game of the season.

    Oparanozie is in her second season with the French club after helping them to respectable position last season and in a brief chat with SportingLife, the former Delta Queens striker said that a good start against Soyaux would assist their resolve to wrestle the league title from Lyon.

    The highest scorer of the last African Women’s Championship held in Namibia has further told SportingLife that she is facilitating her release from her club so as to link up with her Super Falcons ahead of the All African Games which start next weekend in Congo.

    “We have had a very thorough preparation for the season and we are hoping that we start it very well with a good win against Soyaux on Sunday. We won’t be taking them for granted at all knowing fully well that they will be coming with the same mentality too-to beat us at home,” Oparanozie told SportingLife.

    She continued: “I am also trying to ensure that I feature for my country at the All African Games. I am still in talks with my club and I am hopeful that everything will be sorted soon.”

    Oparanozie will he hoping to feature in her first All African Games if she makes the squad to Congo.

  • Oparanozie leads Falcons battle of Bata against E/Guinea

    Oparanozie leads Falcons battle of Bata against E/Guinea

    Head Coach of the Super Falcons, Chris Danjuma has picked 18 players for the big match against Equatorial Guinea’s senior women national team in Bata on Sunday.

    The players who traveled out of Abuja Thursday alongside other officials are:

    Tochukwu Oluehi, Evelyn Nwabuoku, Blessing Edoho, Osarenoma Igbinovia, Joy Jegede, Osinachi Ohale, Martina Ohadugha, Desire Oparanozie, Cecilia Nku, Sarah Nnodim, Ngozi Ebere, Amarachi Okoronkwo, Ngozi Okobi, Chioma Wogu, Mercy Amanze, Precious Dede, Gladys Akpa and Chinaza Uchendu.

  • We’ll win for Chibok girls – Oparanozie

    We’ll win for Chibok girls – Oparanozie

    Nigerian forward Desire Oparanozie has expressed a desire to win the match against the USA for the Chibok girls.

    In a chat with SportingLife, she said: “The Chibok girls  are always with us.The global soccer audience didn’t know much about Nigeria coming into the tournament and all it understands now is that the African champions are a team that’s fast, talented, unpredictable and occasionally lacking in defensive organisation.

    “But behind all that, the squad carries a burning purpose in its quest to emerge from the toughest group in the competition.”

    The girls referenced by Oparanozie are those kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram, the Islamic Jihadist terrorist group based in the north east of the country.

    A reported 276 girls, some as young as 9, were abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok in April 2014. Despite widespread global condemnation and some rescue attempts of mixed success, the whereabouts of most of the girls remains unknown.

    She continued: “We play for ourselves and for our country, but we play for them. Those girls and the tragedy that happened to them, it is deep within all of us. When people see us fight for victory on the field, it is their spirit that is within us. We want to win for them.”

  • 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.

  • Oparanozie turning heads in Russia

    Oparanozie turning heads in Russia

    Super Falcons attacker, Desire Oparanozie is making waves in the Russian women’s football championship.

    Following her move from Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) club, Delta Queens in September 2012, Oparanozie has announced her arrival on the big stage and her performances in the big games have marked her out as a striker to be feared.

    She hit the ground running and scored the winner in the Uefa Champions League game against Czech Republic club, Sparta Prague in her first match for WFC Rossiyanka. The effort was the winner that secured passage for the club to the quarterfinals of the competition.

    “It was an important goal, one of the most crucial goals I’ve ever scored and doing it in my first game for the club gave me confidence,” Oparanozie told supersport.com.

    Her expedition into Europe’s elite competition was abbreviated in the last eight where Rossiyanka came unstuck against German giants, VfL Wolfsburg but the 19-year-old chose to look on the positives of that loss.

    “Those two games against Wolfsburg will stay with me for the rest of my life. We fought hard but in the end, we lost but coming up against players like (German internationals) Nadine Kessler and Alexandra Popp was very good education for me,” she said.

    Oparanozie has now set her sights on success in this season’s Russian women’s football championship where Rossiyanka currently sit in second place on the log but have played two games less than the leaders, Zorkiy Krasnogorsk

    The powerful striker has netted three goals in five matches this season as she seeks to power Rossiyanka to the title.

    “I would have scored more but I joined the club after the season had started. It is a difficult league where you have to be intelligent and quick to succeed. So far, I am doing well and I hope to continue in this path.

    “We will face Perma in the league tomorrow (Wednesday) away from home and that is a game we must win if we are to emerge champions at the end of the season. We want to play in the Champions League next season and we can only do that if we win the league,” she added.

  • Oparanozie, Ordega relish Russia deal

    Oparanozie, Ordega relish Russia deal

    AFTER signing the dotted lines with Russian female club, Rossiyanka FC for an undisclosed fee, the duo of Desire Oparanozie and Francesca Ordega have said the desire to improve on their game made them switch to a new club.

    In a brief chat with SportingLife, an obviously excited Ordega expressed her delight with the deal which she said came at the right time.

    “Yes it is true I can confirm this very one. I am grateful to God for making this happen.

    “I have paid my dues and I believe it was the appropriate time for me to take my career abroad. I am happy,” Ordega said.

    The same view was shared by her team mate and compatriot, Oparanozie who is looking forward to kick staring her move with a bang to prove that her World Cup feat was no fluke.

    Both players had fantastic outings at the Japan 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, scoring 7 of the total 9 recorded by the team. Ordega got a hat trick against Italy and the lone goal against Brazil while Oparanozie’s 3 goals came in the matches against South Korea, Mexico and Japan.

    While Ordega plied her trade with Rivers Angels Opanozie was with Delta Queens before her departure.