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Nigeria has won all the African Women cup of nations (nine times) with exception of just three. So it will not be something incredible if they win it again in Morocco. Yeah, the goal is to qualify for 2023 FIFA Women World Cup and to extend the record by winning the trophy again for the tenth time.
Well, women football is fast developing with such speed it will no longer be a stroll in the park for the Nigerian ladies. We saw Super Falcons struggled against Banyana-Banyana in the last edition...
The South African ladies defeated Nigeria in the opening group game, but lost 1 - 0 in a keen contested finals. Banyana-Banyana has since improved a lot to have won the first edition of Aisha Buhari tournament, defeating Super Falcons in their home soil at Mobolaji Johnson Stadium Onikan - Lagos
This set up Monday July 4 Group C opener at Prince Moulay Hassan Sports Complex in Rabat, as one of the tournament's classic derby, Nigeria vs South Africa. The Super Falcons will be going for a "Pound of Flesh" to get their campaign up and going in Morocco. But will they be able to defeat the highly improved Banyana-Banyana or be dethroned?
Something about this set of Super Falcons, a blend of the old and some new enterprising mix, will excite you. The Super Falcons are more organized with the ageless Onome Abi and Ashleigh Plumptre at the heart of the defence with Nicole Payne, Glory Ogbonna very solid too .
Rita Chikwelu still controlling the pace of the team from the middle of the pack, complemented by Toni Payne, Halimatu Ayinde, Rasheedat Ajibade, Christy Ucheibe... may have mastered quick recovery of the ball and free flow distributions. Perhaps, the Super Falcons are more ruthless upfront. There are more options upfront and Randy Waldrum has enough utility players to switch formations at will.
Waldrum is looking beyond AWCON, but to build a world class team that can compete favourable in the next FIFA World Cup. First, Super Falcons will have to qualified in Morocco.
Below is the 2022 AWCON fixtures:
Group A: Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Uganda
Group B: Cameroon, Zambia, Tunisia, Togo
Group C: Nigeria, South Africa, Burundi, Botswana
The Super Falcons have won the past three women’s nations cups and are record nine-time champions, remember that.
