SUPER Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has expressed satisfaction with Nigeria Football Federation’s handling of the team towards their final qualifying tie for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The nine-time African women’s champions will round off a nine-day training camp in the Abuja on Tuesday as they gear up to face Cote d’Ivoire early next year for a spot in the 2022 Women’s AFCON.
“I am very delighted with the support the federation has always given to the team; this has helped our work,” American Waldrum told the NFF media department on Monday.
“I am happy we had this training camp as we were able to see the home-based players and the overseas-based, and everyone bonded very well. It has been a marvelous experience and the joy among the players is palpable.
“We will look to have periodic campings like this in order to be able to put forward the best of Nigeria women players for matches and championships at any time.”
General Secretary of the NFF, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, who received the players and their officials at the NFF Secretariat, said: “We will set aside resources to organise more of this type of camping so that we will always get the best from home and abroad and blend them to perform at optimal level when the need arises. “We are aware of the challenge that Cote d’Ivoire will pose when we confront them for a place at next year’s Women’s AFCON.
“We need players who are committed and are proud to dorn the country’s colours and will strive to deliver no matter the circumstances.
“Football is the strongest unifying force in our country, as you can all attest given the diversity in your camp. We have players who are home-based, some overseas-based and some that are visiting the country of their birth for the first time! I believe it is a very interesting and pleasurable experience for those who are in the country for the first time ever.”
Veteran defender Onome Ebi, who spoke on behalf of the players, vowed that the team would not let the Ivorians have the upper hand again.
She confessed that she and her teammates still felt the pain of being eliminated from the qualifying series for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by the Ivorians.
“I can tell you that we still nurse the pain of missing out of the Tokyo Olympics as a result of the loss to Cote d’Ivoire in the qualifying series,” she said.
“This time, we will repay them in their own coins. Personally, I want to play in the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup, and I know it is the same for my team mates.”
The Super Falcons will battle the Ivorians in February in a home-and-away final elimination tie for the 12th Women’s AFCON slated for Morocco next year. Both legs of the fixture will take place in February.
Africa’s representatives for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be determined at the Women’s AFCON in Morocco in June 2022.
