Nigeria’s women national team, the Super
Falcons have qualified for the football event of the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil after their opponent, Mali withdrew from this weekend’s qualifiers.
The African champions were due to play the Malians on Saturday, but they
withdrew citing financial constraints.
The Super Falcons met Mali earlier in the year for the qualifiers for
the All African Games. The Nigerian Ladies ran out 9-1 winners on aggregate,
after they played a 1-1 draw in Bamako and won
the return leg in Abuja,
8-0.
The Super Falcons who be
participating in this year’s Women’s World Cup holding in Canada in less than
a month, are now expected to concentrate on their preparations for the tournament.
The Edwin Okon touted side is
expected to embark on a month long training camp in Europe
before the start of the World Cup.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup in
Canada will be Nigeria’s seventh appearance in the tournament, a record for an
African team, as the Super Falcons remains the only African side to have
qualified for all editions of the World Cup.
Nigeria is in a tough looking group D which
comprises of the USA, Sweden and Australia.
The team’s best record remains the
1999 edition of the World Cup in the USA when it got to the quarter
finals. That team was led by the likes of Mercy Akide, Patience Avre and
Florence Omagbemi. The Super Falcons lost 4-3 to Brazil after extra time in a match
that remains an epic.
The present Super Falcons are led by
Liverpool’s Asisat Oshoala and Desire
Oparanozie. Both players were instrumental in Nigeria’s second place finish at
the last U20 Women’s World Cup where Oshoala won the golden boot of the
tournament.
The team’s preparations for the
upcoming World Cup in Canada has been criticised in several quarters. With no
tune up matches arranged against quality oppositions when other countries have
consistently being playing friendly matches.
With the path now clear for further
preparations following Mali’s
withdrawal from the Olympic Games qualifiers, the team will be primed to focus
on the trip to Canada
for a tournament that starts on 6 June.
Photo Credit: Nigeria
Guardian
