Asisat Oshoala, the Super Falcons captain, gave an early warning to the Lady Elephants of Ivory Coast ahead of next month’s dual AWCON qualifiers, scoring a first-half hat-trick to help Barcelona beat Real Betis 4-0, according to AOIFootball.
The 27-year-old, who had been chosen in the Falcons’ 35-woman roster, gave the hosts the lead in the 18th minute when she converted a Lieke Martens pass to make it 1-0, before doubling the lead nine minutes later to score Barcelona’s 100th league goal of the season.
Oshoala then completed her hat-trick just before the halftime whistle to take her league tally to 15 goals from just 12 games before substitute Fridolina Rolfo sealed the win six minutes after the hour mark to continue the hosts 100% start to the league campaign.
Earlier on Friday, Super Falcons forward Uchenna Kanu also showed her scoring prowess as she became the first foreigner to score a league hat-trick in the Liga Mx Femenil following her efforts for Tigres UNAL in their 5-1 thrashing of Atlas.
The 24-year-old, opened scoring four minutes after the half-hour mark before doubling her efforts a minute later with Kanu completing her hat-trick 15 minutes into the second period.
Kanu who recently joined up with the Mexican side had now scored 4 goals for the club and should be expected in the country next week as the Falcons begin their preparation for their double-header qualifiers against the Ivory Coast.
24-year old Super Falcons forward, Uchenna Kanu has written her name in the Mexican history books.
The strong and clinical striker netted three times for her new side, Tigres UANL Femenil, to become the first foreigner to score a hattrick in the Mexican Liga MX Femenil.
She opened the scoring in the 34th minute and doubled her tally only a minute later. It then took 15 mins into the second half for Kanu to stamp her name in the history books with the hattrick goal.
Kanu joined the Mexican champions earlier this month and has settled in nicely. She has netted four times in three games since joining.
She is no stranger to big achievements and recognition, as she also has a day dedicated to her in the city of Lakeland, Florida, for her achievements while playing college football in the USA.
Ivory Coast had earlier mauled their counterparts from the Niger Republic 9-0 in the first leg encounter on Wednesday, 20th October, before finishing off the demolition on Monday winning 11-0 to take the aggregate to 20-0, to book a date with the nine-time African Champions.
The Ivorians will hope to stop Super Falcons once again, after stopping the Falcons’ from qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Football event in Tokyo, Japan.
On October 7, 2019 in Agege Stadium, Lagos, the Ivorians forced the Falcons to a 1-1 draw after the first leg in Abidjan had ended barren and progressed to the next round on away goal.
Struggling Super Falcons on the other hand will hope for revenge or risk losing another qualification after suffering a 1-0 defeat against the Queens of Ghana in the second leg of the qualifiers. Though, wasn’t enough to stop them from booking their place in the final qualifying round of the competition.
The second qualifying round will be played between February 14–23, 2022, and the winner of the two legged clash will pick a slot to be among the 11 teams to join hosts Morocco