BARCELONA striker Asisat Oshoala and England-born Leicester City defender Ashleigh Plumptre are two of the major players named in head coach Randy Waldrum’s Super Falcons squad for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament will be held in Morocco from July 2 to July 23, with 12 teams participating for the first time since its inaugural edition in 1998.
Other regular faces in the squad include new captain Onome Ebi, who took over the armband from Oshoala, Francisca Ordega, Rita Chikwelu and Rasheedat Ajibade.
The squad of the nine-time champions is a mix of veterans and new players, with Tochukwu Oluehi, Osinachi Ohale, Ebi, Oshoala, Chikwelu, Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene and others having featured in multiple tournaments, while the likes of Plumptre, Nicole Payne, Michelle Alozie, Regina Otu, Vivian Ikechukwu, Gift Monday and Ifeoma Onumonu are mostly first-timers.
There are only two players based in Nigeria in the squad: defender Akudo Ogbonna of Edo Queens and striker Gift Monday of Bayelsa Queens, who was the top scorer and Most Valuable Player of the recent Nigeria Women’s Football League Super Six competition.
Dropped from the contingent that made the camp in Abuja were goalkeeper Rita Akarekor, defenders Chidinma Okeke, Ngozi Emenayo and Opeyemi Sunday, midfielders Suliat Abideen, Amanda Uju Mbadi and Charity Adule, and forward Anam Imo.
The Super Falcons will open the defence of their title against South Africa’s Banyana Banyana on July 4 before facing other Group C opponents Botswana (July 7) and Burundi ( July 10).
All four semi-finalists at the championship in Morocco will proceed to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as Africa’s representatives.
The Super Falcons contingent will depart Nigeria for Morocco on Monday, according to the Nigeria Football Federation.
SUPER FALCONS SQUAD FOR 12TH WOMEN’S AFCON MOROCCO 2022:
GOALKEEPERS:
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC, France); Tochukwu Oluehi (Maccabi Kishronot Hadera, Israel); Yewande Balogun (Coppermine United, USA)
DEFENDERS:
Glory Ogbonna (Santa Teresa FC, Spain); Onome Ebi (En Avant Guingamp, France); Osinachi Ohale (Deportivo Alaves, Spain); Ashleigh Plumptre (Leicester City, England); Nicole Payne (West Virginia University, USA); Michelle Alozie (Houston Dash, USA); Akudo Ogbonna (Edo Queens)
MIDFIELDERS:
Peace Efih (Kiryat Gat, Israel); Halimatu Ayinde (Eskilstuna FC, Sweden); Toni Oyedupe Payne (Sevilla FC, Spain); Regina Otu (Minsk FC, Belarus); Christy Ucheibe (SL Benfica, Portugal); Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico Madrid, Spain); Rita Chikwelu (Madrid CFF, Spain); Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene (Eskilstuna FC, Sweden)
FORWARDS:
Francisca Ordega (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Vivian Ikechukwu (WFC Gintra, Lithuania); Chinonyerem Macleans (GSK Gornik Leczna, Poland); Ifeoma Onumonu (NY/NJ Gotham FC, USA); Uchenna Kanu (Tigres Femenil, Mexico); Asisat Oshoala (FC Barcelona, Spain); Gift Monday (Bayelsa Queens)
