Nigeria is aiming to qualify, book a World Cup ticket, and defend their 2019 AFCON title.
Nigerian senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, has expressed readiness ahead of their must-win 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations final round qualifiers clash against the Lady Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire. The game scheduled to hold today, February 18, 2022, at the newly renovated MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, by 4 pm (WAT), will see the nine-time African champions seek vengeance against the Ivoirians that beat them to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ticket. Nigeria beat Ghana 2-1 on aggregate to advance into the final round of qualifiers, while the Lady Elephants beat Niger 20-0 on aggregate to book a date with the Falcons.
Head coach of the Nigerian team, Randy Waldrum, has expressed readiness for the encounter and hailed the awareness of the players towards the importance of the two-legged clash.
“Every player in camp is aware of the high importance of these two matches against Cote d’Ivoire. We must win to get to the Women AFCON where the African teams for the FIFA Women’s World Cup will emerge. It is one step at a time, but we all know that we must win well in Abuja on Friday,”
Waldrum said.
The last time the Super Falcons played at the MKO Abiola Stadium was a 2-0 victory over Senegal in 2016, a WAFCON qualifiers match. After Friday’s encounter, the Super Falcons will travel to Abidjan for the second leg on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at the Stade Robert Champroux.
Legendary Nigerian defender, Onome Ebi, noted that the team is in high spirit ahead of the encounter.
“These two matches are going to be tough; they would be like the Final of the Women AFCON itself. The Ivoirians stopped us from the race to the Olympics. We also know that it is by being in Morocco that we can defend our crown and also qualify for the Women’s World Cup. We are battle-ready,”
Ebi pointed.
The 12th Women AFCON finals which is scheduled to hold from July 2-23rd in Morocco will serve as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers. All four semi-finalists will qualify for the global showpiece slated to hold in Australia with 32 teams just as the men’s World Cup for the first time in history.
Source:
NFF
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