Nigeria, the nine-time champions and Cup holders, say they are prepared to face the Lady Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the last qualifying round of the 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations on Friday in Abuja.
The Super Falcons advanced to this round after a narrow 2-1 aggregate win over Ghana’s Black Queens. They will face the high-scoring Lady Elephants, who thrashed their Niger Republic counterparts 20-0 on aggregate in the previous round.
Coach Randy Waldrum has had most of the players invited to a training camp in Abuja, and Waldrum says the girls are fully aware of the significance of the major match.
“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.”
Friday’s encounter, which kicks off at 4pm, is the first game the Super Falcons will play at the MKO Abiola Stadium since defeating their Senegalese counterparts 2-0 in April 2016, in the final qualifying round of the 10th Women AFCON finals held in Cameroon.
Veteran defender Onome Ebi said the Nigerian girls are highly motivated for the encounter on several fronts, including reaching Morocco 2022 to defend their continental crown, having the opportunity to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and avenging a bitter loss to the Ivorians in the qualifying race for the 2020 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament.