Nigeria’s Olympic return: NFF cancels local camp, Super Falcons to face tough warm-up in Spain

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is making plans for the Super Falcons to set up a training camp in Spain in July in preparation for the Paris Olympics, Soccernet.ng understands.

During the Super Falcons’ stay, they will play a warm-up match against a team that has also qualified for the summer games.

This marks Nigeria’s return to the Olympics after a 16-year absence, following a narrow 1-0 aggregate victory over South Africa in April.

To help the team acclimatize to the weather conditions in France, the NFF has sent invitation letters to the players, inviting them to the camp in Spain.

Initially, there were plans for the nine-time African champions to hold a training camp during the FIFA women’s international window from May 28 to June 4. This period was meant to include open screening for new additions to the squad by coach Randy Waldrum. However, these plans were shelved for unspecified reasons.

Instead, the team will now hold their training camp in Spain from July 5 to 16. During this period, they will play a friendly match against a high-profile team from Group A, which includes hosts France, Canada, New Zealand, and Colombia.

The friendly match is scheduled for July 15, just one day before the team departs for the tournament in France.

Nigeria is in Group C at the Paris Olympics, along with reigning world champions Spain, Japan, and South American champions Brazil.

The Super Falcons will begin their campaign against Brazil on July 25 at Stade de Bordeaux, followed by matches against Spain on July 28 in Nantes, and Japan on July 31 at the same venue.