The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SUPER FALCONS

  • AWC: Ebi arrives for Rwanda clash

    AWC: Ebi arrives for Rwanda clash

    Belarus’ Minsk FC defender, Onome Ebi , on Saturday arrived the Abuja camp of Super Falcons ahead of May 24 Africa Women’s Championship (AWC) qualifier against the She-Amavubi of Rwanda in Kigali, supersport.com reports.

    Ebi and Turkey -based striker, Desire Oparanozie are the only two among the eight invited Europe-based professionals to arrive for the crucial game against the Central African side.

    Super Falcons head coach, Edwin Okon, said he is satisfied with the presence of the duo and other domestic players in camp for the all important two-legged final qualifiers against the Rwandans.

    “Onome Ebi arrived the Falcons camp this evening (Saturday), she asked for permission to come in today against Friday’s deadline.

    “Already Desire Oparanozie has been with us for the past two days, I think we’re satisfied with the two as we’re no longer expecting any other player for the first leg tie on May 24 in Kigali, Rwanda.

    “Oparanozie played the two friendlies against the local sides which we won and she showed her characteristic sparks in attack and blended perfectly with the ones we’ve in camp.

    “Ebi looks fit and ready for the battle too. We’ll intensify our preparations with test matches as we progress towards the match day,” the Falcons head coach told supersport.com.

     

  • NFF outlines duties for Falcons’, Eaglets’ crews

    NFF outlines duties for Falcons’, Eaglets’ crews

    The Nigeria Football Federation on Monday clearly spelt out for the respective crews of the Senior Women National Team (Super Falcons) and U-17 National Team (Golden Eaglets) their duties and responsibilities as both teams seek to build new, solid squads.

    At a parley at the Conference Room of the NFF Secretariat, Abuja, NFF’s Director of Competitions, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi warned of the dangers of persons taking over the duties of others in crews of the National Teams.

    “I have been mandated by the NFF President and the Chairman of Technical Committee to fully brief you all on the importance of sticking to your respective duties and carrying out your responsibilities well.

    “You must know the responsibilities that go with each role and the need to also tolerate and respect other persons and their roles, because you all come from different backgrounds to carry out a national assignment. We want the crews of all National Teams to be abreast of their duties and to do those duties to the best of their abilities.

    “For example, the Head Coach is the leader of the team at all times, while the Team Administrator is the head of administration, who handles all administrative and logistics matters,” Dr. Sanusi said.

    The Super Falcons are preparing for their 2014 African Women Championship final round qualifying fixture against the She-Amavubi of Rwanda, with the first leg coming up next month, while reigning world champions Eaglets have a 2015 African U-17 Championship qualifying fixture against either DR Congo or Burundi in July.

    While the Eaglets are billed to participate in the WAFU B Tournament taking place in Togo later this month, the NFF has secured an international friendly for the Falcons against the Indomitable

    Lionesses of Cameroon, to be played in Abuja on April 15.

    Present at the meeting were Ademola Olajire (Assistant Director, Communications), Pascal Patrick, MON (Special Assistant to NFF President), Ruth David (Team Administrator, Falcons and Head of

    Federation Cup), Edwin Okon (Head Coach of Super Falcons), Emmanuel Amuneke (Head Coach, Eaglets), Christopher Danjuma (Assistant Coach, Super Falcons), Justin Madugu (Assistant Coach, Super Falcons), Emeka Amadi (Goalkeeper Trainer, Eaglets), Bala Mohammed (Goalkeeper Trainer, Super Falcons), Tayo Egbayelo (Team Administrator, Eaglets), Omoye Akhigbe (Doctor, Super Falcons), Ayodeji Olarinoye (Doctor, Eaglets), Ada Nwachukwu (Physiotherapist, Super Falcons), Abubakar Aliyu (Physiotherapist, Eaglets), (Henrietta Ukaigwe (Team Coordinator, Super Falcons), Prince Udofia (Team Coordinator, Eaglets), Morakinyo Abodunrin (Media Officer, Eaglets), Gracious Akujobi (Media Officer, Super Falcons) and Godiya Jezhi (Equipment Manager, Super Falcons).

  • Namibia 2014 AWC qualifier: Okon invites 30 for Leone Queens

    Namibia 2014 AWC qualifier: Okon invites 30 for Leone Queens

    Super Falcons coach, Edwin Okon will submit a 30-man list to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical committee for the two-legged African Women Championship (AWC) qualifying match against Sierra Leone.

    The Falcons will host the West African opponents on February 14 at the Abuja National Stadium while they will head to Freetown, Sierra Leone a fortnight later for the reverse fixture.

    The winner of the encounter will be a game away from qualifying for the 2014 biennial continent football fiesta holding in Namibia which doubles as qualifiers for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

    The top three finishers at the Namibia 2014 AWC will automatically qualify to represent Africa in Canada.

    Okon,who initially opted to bring in 45 players to camp in preparation for the crucial AWC tie, said he has to key into the programme of the football house by scaling down the number of invited players.

    “I thought I could have brought in 45 players, at least, to give me a wider window to take a second look at the players since there is the possibility of drop in form as the season is at rest at the moment.

    “But the NFF technical committee’s directive has corrected that, as we’ll now work with the 30-man squad when we resume on January 6.

    “However, the elimination by substitution approach will still apply as any player who fails to measure up will be eliminated and substituted immediately.

    “The encounter against Sierra Leone on February 14 in Abuja is crucial and we must work very hard to obtain a comfortable result so as to make the second leg very easy.

    “We want to qualify for the AWC in Namibia as well as excel to win a World Cup spot, so the work is enormous and only the best will be given the final nod,” said the Rivers Angels gaffer to supersport.com.

    Aggregate winners of the two-legged tie are most likely to confront the winners of the tie between Rwanda and Kenya in May and June for a final spot in the 2014 Namibia AWC football event.

  • 2012 AWC: Falcons are the team to beat- Mbachu

    2012 AWC: Falcons are the team to beat- Mbachu

    •Says Nigeria not afraid

    •Tips Flamingoes to win U- 17 World Cup

    SUPER FALCONS veteran winger, Stella Mbachu has boasted that her team would be the team to beat when hostilities begin for the Africa Women Championship (AWC) in Equatorial Guinea on October 28 to November 11th, 2012.

    The very experienced striker argued that Nigeria would still retain Cup. “We are taking our training in camp very seriously and we know what we are here (in Abuja) for. The Africa Women Championship is not like before.it is improving every day and other countries are working very hard to come and beat us and possibly dethrone us. But as Champions of Africa we are still working very hard to maintain our status.

    She, however declared that the Nigerian team are a threat to the other top teams like South Africa, Cameroon and host country Equatorial Guinea that would also participate in the competition.

    “We are not afraid of these teams, they are afraid of us and believe we are a threat to their ambition any time we play and the situation has not changed. We will do our best to retain the Trophy” She assured.

    Mbachu also threw her weight behind the Flamingoes to win the ongoing U- 17 FIFA World Cup in Azerbaijan.

    “The Flamingoes has what it takes to win the Cup because I know the quality of the players. They are young and very talented. The last time Nigeria campaigned in this competition we couldn’t go beyond the quarter-finals but I am confident that we can emerge Champion this time around.

    “Some of them have the experience having played in the same team before and Falconets too”, she told SportingLife.