Super Falcons star Jennifer Echegini has stated that the team will perform above expectations in the Women’s football competiton at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Soccernet.ng reports.
Nigeria were drawn in the group of death at the Paris Olympics. In Group C of the draws, they are pitched against Japan, Brazil, and current world champions Spain.
In that group, the Super Falcons are the least ranked team on the FIFA rankings. Spain are number one, Japan are ranked seventh, Brazil are ninth, while Nigeria sit on 36th.
However, the nine-time African champions have shown that rankings don’t necessarily matter. At the last FIFA Women’s World Cup, Nigeria were the least ranked team in a group that had Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Still, they qualified from the group without losing a game.
PSG’s new signing Jennifer Echegini, who was part of that squad last year is confident that the Super Falcons can replicate that kind of performance at the Olympics later this month.
Ahead of the games, the Super Falcons midfielder has stated that the team has more to offer than what people think.
“I feel like as a Nigeria or any other African team, they underestimate our football ability and they kind of just base us off strength and speed. It’s always ‘oh they are strong and powerful’, but we can also play,” Echegini told beats and rhymes fc.
“I feel like a lot of times, teams don’t expect that, and they’ll be surprised when we start playing around them. I prefer if they don expect it because it makes things easier for us, but whenever I hear people talking about Nigeria, it’s always ‘strong’ or ‘fast’, and I’m like, “we’re not just that, you know?”
“A lot of us grew up playing the exact same way as those England girls or the Dutch girls, so it’s kind of funny when people say we’re just speed and strength. We went through the same process growing up,.we just chose to represent the Nigerian team.
The Super Falcons opened camp last week in Seville, Spain. And coach Randy Waldrum will be looking to perfect his tactics to ensure the team performs well in the Olympics. The Super Falcons have never won medals at the Olympics, but they can dare to dream.