Tag: SUPER FALCONS

The Super Falcons completely out-thought, outplayed and outmanoeuvred their counterparts from Cape Verde to hit five goals in the first leg of their 2024 Women Africa Cup of Nations final round qualifying fixture yesterday in Abuja.

Uchenna Kanu, with a first-half brace, and substitute Esther Okoronkwo, with a second-half brace, swept the nine-time African champions into a comfortable lead in the fixture and all but earned a place in the finals slated for Morocco in the summer of next year.

Gift Monday rocked the bar from a 22-yard free-kick in the 4th minute before Kanu reaped from a goalmouth melee that followed a corner kick to slot past goalkeeper Jacinta Rodrigues. Rodrigues did better two minutes later when she palmed a left-footed angled drive from captain Rasheedat Ajibade.

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In the 14th  minute, Kleydiana Borges came close with a shot that was charged down by Oluwatosin Demehin, and five minutes later, Toni Payne missed from close range to let off the Cape Verdeans. However, Gift Monday made good from another goalmouth melee in the 25th minute, to make it two for the hosts at the MKO Abiola National Stadium.

Petite midfielder Deborah Abiodun, whose turns, swerves and sweet touches were a delight all evening, came close with a 25-yard volley on the half-hour mark, but Kanu made good again just before the break, making no mistake from a pass from Toni Payne on a swift counter-attack launched by Ajibade.

In the second period, the Falcons again completely dominated, with Okoronkwo lifting the ball past Rodrigues in the 67th minute from a cross by Ajibade from the right, and then shot past the visiting goalkeeper from a Rofiat Imuran cross from the left with 13 minutes left.

Both teams will clash in the second leg in Praia, capital of Cape Verde on Tuesday, December 5.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons are through to the third round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualifiers after they dispatched the Lucy of Ethiopia 4-0 in the return leg of the second round tie played yesterday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

The Ethiopians held the Falcons to a 1-1 draw in the first leg played last week in Addis Ababa and even threatened to create an upset from the build up to the encounter.

The Lucy of Ethiopia truly matched the Falcons in the early exchanges and they even had shots on target saved by Chiamaka Nnadozie.

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The Falcons opened  the floodgate of goals in the 44th  minute through Uchenna Kanu. Asisat Oshoala had missed two great opportunities to put Nigeria in the ascendancy before then.

The team’s skipper, Rasheedat Ajibade doubled the lead some minutes into the second half. Oshoala made it 3-0 in the 68th  minute before Ajibade’s second of the game and Nigeria’s fourth in the 71st  minute.

The Falcons will face the winner between Cameroon and Uganda in the third round.

Zambia, Tunisia and South Africa are among the teams that have qualified for the next round of the qualifiers.

Nigeria’s World Cup stars are keen to give their very best this evening and consign Ethiopia to the heap in order to reach the penultimate round of qualifiers for next year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in France.

Coach Justine Madugu said on Sunday that his girls were disappointed by the result in East Africa and keen to step on the pedal at the MKO Abiola National Stadium this evening.

“We were not too happy about the result of that first game. It’s unfortunate not to win the first leg but we are equally realistic with ourselves. We had some challenges in that game, and did our best to quickly surmount them. The girls have overcome those challenges and are really determined to make sure they are part of the Olympics next year.”

Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, who was formidable at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the summer and has been huge for French club Paris FC in the ongoing UEFA Women Champions League, assured that the playing body is inspired to brush aside the Ethiopian challenge and look forward to the Olympic ticket after two more rounds of the qualification series.

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“Our plan was to win the first leg (in Addis Ababa), but we have taken the draw and the lessons that came from there. We are looking forward to the return match in Abuja and we will go all out for victory.”

Team captain Rasheedat Ajibade added: “The spirit in camp is excellent and we’re looking forward to victory. We will work very hard from the very first minute because we have no reason to under-rate them; they gave us a scare in the first leg. Our objective is to earn a clear win and make progress in the race.”

Ethiopia’s senior girls will be no pushovers, as the team defeated their counterparts from Chad 10-0 on aggregate in the first round to be eligible to square up to the Super Falcons.

They defeated Chad 6-0 in Addis Ababa and followed up with a 4-0 lashing of their hosts in N’Djamena a few days later.

Today’s encounter at the MKO Abiola National Stadium will commence at 4pm.

The General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, at the weekend urged the Super Falcons to work as a team and bring their A-game to tomorrow’s  2024 Olympics second round, second leg qualifier against Ethiopia at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

Sanusi spoke after watching the nine-time African champions train at the Turf Arena in the Federal Capital, and also reminded players and officials that Nigeria has been absent from the past three Women Olympic Football Tournaments and this certainly does no credit to the country’s rating as a leading global power in women’s football.

 “The whole world still talks about how you captivated everyone at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand during the summer. The Government of Nigeria, the NFF and all stakeholders remain very proud of you. The NFF loves you and is happy with your outing and general conduct at the World Cup, on and off the field of play.

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 “Now, it is time to destroy this vexed issue of Olympics jinx. The last time you attended the Olympics was in 2008, in China. That was a long time ago. Missing three consecutive tournaments is enough; we have to take our place in Paris. I am happy with your game in Addis Ababa and I know you have the capacity to finish off the job here in Abuja on Tuesday.”

he Turf Arena on Friday and Saturday before moving to the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Sunday.

 Today, both the Falcons and visiting ‘Lucy’ will have their official training sessions on the turf of the magnificent arena.

The winner over two legs will take on the winner of the Cameroon/Uganda fixture in the third round of the series. Uganda, who narrowly eliminated Rwanda in the first round, are in the ascendancy after defeating the Indomitable Lionesses 2-0 in Kampala on Thursday.   

Nigeria and Ethiopia’s senior girls put up a hard-fought battle in Addis Ababa yesterday  with the game ending 1-1 to set up an interesting return leg in Abuja on Tuesday next week.

Captain Rasheedat Ajibade’s scorching shot from the edge of the box, six minutes after the restart, restored parity at the Abebe Bikila Stadium, after the Ethiopian girls had surprisingly taken the lead in the 6th minute of play as Birkie Amare made hay from a corner kick.

With Asisat Oshoala in the top-striking position, Uchenna Kanu and Gift Monday operated from the wings, with Michelle Alozie switched to left back to allow Nicole Payne take charge at right back. Oluwatosin Demehin and Akudo Ogbonna took control at the centre of the defence, and with Christy Ucheibe and Halimatu Ayinde unavailable, Peace Efih joined Toni Payne and Ajibade to string things together in the middle.

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Both teams found it hard to create many opportunities in a tight first period, though Asisat Oshoala should have done better with an opportunity from Payne’s cross halfway into the period.

After Ajibade restored parity, the Falcons took full control, and substitute Ifeoma Onumonu should have put Nigeria in the lead in the 64th minute, only to be denied as she cocked the trigger.

Payne and Onumonu combined to create a gilt-edged opportunity in the 79th minute, but once more Oshoala failed to make hay.

The Falcons thought they had won it when Onumonu towered above all to head into the net on the dot of time. However, Algerian referee Lamia Atman spotted foul play in the build-up.

Both teams will clash again at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday, with the winner on aggregate to proceed to the third round, where the winner of the Cameroon/Uganda fixture awaits.

Spain Liga F side UD Granadilla Tenerife  Rinsola Babajide has received her first-ever call-up to the Super Falcons as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced a 22-player roster ahead of the Super Falcons’ 2024 Women Olympic Football Tournament qualification fixture against the Senior Women National Team of Ethiopia.

FIFA recently approved the Liverpool alumni request to change her association from England to Nigeria.

Babajide was a member of the Young Lionesses squad that won the bronze medal at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Reacting to her maiden invitation on the social media platform X, the 25-year-old, who was voted Liverpool Women’s 2019-2020 Player of the Season said she was honoured for the opportunity of playing for the women’s national team. 

“The love I’ve been feeling has been very overwhelming, thank you so much. Grateful & blessed for this opportunity #Honoured,” she tweeted.

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Ethiopia will host the first leg of the second-round fixture in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, 25th October with the second leg in Nigeria on Tuesday, 31st October. Ethiopia eliminated Chad in the first round of the series as nine-time African champions Nigeria drew a bye.

The Super Falcons, who finished 8th at the 32-team FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand in the summer, also drew a bye to the third round of the 2024 Women Africa Cup of Nations qualification series, after Sao Tome and Principe’s senior girls scratched the tie.

The Falcons will be up against their counterparts from Cape Verde in the third round of that series at the end of November.

The House of Representatives Ad hoc committee investigating the faceoff between Super Falcons and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over non-payment of allowance and entitlement and the Chairman of the House Standing Committee on Sports, Rep. Ekene Adams Abubakar appeared to be on coalition course.

Hon. Ekene allegedly asked the President of the NFF, Ibrahim Gusau not to honour the invitation from the ad hoc committee headed by Hon. Blessing Onuh.

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But in a WhatsApp message in response to enquiry on the allegation, Hon. Ekene denied knowledge of the allegation.

The House had constituted an ad hoc committee to investigate  alleged threats by Super  Falcons to boycott the just concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup due to non- payment of their allowances.

The motion was sponsored by the immediate past Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, Hon. Olumide Osoba.

As if giving credence to the allegations, the NFF President who was initially expected to appear before the committee on August 17, failed to honour the invitation.

However, at yesterday’s  sitting, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Blessing Onuh said the NFF President has no choice than yo appear before the committee, adding that the it was. Not set up to witch hunt anybody but to discharge its functions in line with the mandate of the House.

Onuh frowned at the NFF President’s deliberate refusal to honour the invitation of the Ad hoc committee, adding that the NFF president was supposed to appear before the ad hoc committee on the 17th  of August but unfortunately,  the reasons NFF president  gave were not as important as the work of this ad hoc committee.

“Nigerians are interested, Nigerians are watching. The girls did extremely well and they made Nigerians proud, so we shouldn’t take this investigative hearing lightly,” he said.

“We gave an opportunity for the president of NFF to appear before this Ad-hoc Committee I will say invariably he is the one summoning us, he came up with an excuse that is not as important as what we have.

“The allowances and the dues that were supposed to be paid to the female footballers, the Super Falcons and he turned it down, what is more important is it for him to attend the FIFA Women Convention or to appear before this Committee?

“And even at that, he has the effrontery to  send his SA that he won’t be able to make it,  it simply means he is taking us for granted,  he is taking us for a ride and we will not tolerate it we will not”.

NFF Secretary General, Dr Mohammed Sanusi said that the NFF President could not attend the investigative hearing because of his ill-health.

The ad hoc committee however also walked out  the Secretary General and his team who came to represent the NFF president.

Contacted for his reaction, Hon. Ekene said “I don’t know what you are talking about. The allegation is coming from who please. Also the has proof on this your allegation. Good afternoon”.