The Super Falcons remain bullish of a good run at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which kicks off this weekend in Australia and New Zealand, despite a players’ unrest over pay and a row between the coach and the country’s football federation.
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The nine-time African champions have appeared in every FIFA Women’s World Cup since its inception in 1991 with their best performance achieved 24 years ago when they reached quarterfinal in the United States of America.
The Super Falcons are pitched in a tough-looking Group A against co-hosts Australia, Canada and Republic of Ireland at this World Cup.
Their build-up to the World Cup has been overshadowed by first a row involving their American coach Randy Waldrum and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and that was followed by a boycott threat by the players over bonus payments at the tournament.
NFF technical director Austin Eguavoen admitted these incidents have been uncomfortable and could only be distractions to the team.
However, he maintained the team will do well beginning with an opening group game against Olympic champions Canada on Friday, July 21.
“I’m very optimistic that they will perform well,” said Eguavoen, a former head coach of the country’s men’s team.
“The first game is always very important, the first game will determine how far we will go.
“Because if anything goes wrong in the first game, then the team becomes jittery, but with the quality of players we have, I think they are good enough to handle any kind of pressure and I’m looking at a very good performance.”
The team’s top star is ‘Agba Baller’ Asisat Oshoala, who has won two UEFA Women’s Champions League with Barcelona Femeni and has been named CAF Player of the Year a record five times.
Besides her goals, the 28-year-old forward also provides leadership for the team both on and off the pitch.
Oshoala has a support cast of talented players like Payne, Rasheedat Ajibade, goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, Christy Uchebe and Ashleigh Plumptre who all play their football in Europe.
The Falcons beat a local Australian club 8-1 in a warm-up game at the weekend.
“I think as a team, we played well, and our objective is to improve and grow our system in every game and training session. Step by step we are preparing for our first game against Canada,” assured Sevilla forward Toni Payne, one of the goal scorers at the Gold Coast.
“The new fitness coach is coming with a lot of new ideas, and it is helping us get prepared for the World Cup with the right fitness routine and sessions in training.
“We are very confident with the players we have here and we are ready to fight.”
Waldrum has expressed confidence the team will give a good account of themselves at the World Cup.
“We have the talent, I’m very happy, and if we can organise ourselves especially defensively, we will be successful,” he said.
“We will hope to get something from the game against Canada. That will be a good start for us.
“The players are confident they can do that and I believe in them.”
