Nigeria will take the battle to Morocco from the blast of the whistle as they intend to give no inches or allow room for error in Saturday’s 13th Women AFCON Championship Match inside the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.
The presence of hosts Morocco guarantees a full house at the magnificent facility in Morocco’s administrative capital, but the Super Falcons will be in no mood to be brow-beat or shouted out of sync as they fight to notch up their superlative numbers, including picking up a record-extending 10th continental title.
Captain Rasheedat Ajibade is firmly on track for the Player of the Tournament award, and forward Chinwendu Ihezuo is also in contention for the Top Scorer’s award with her three goals, one behind Morocco captain Ghizlane Chebbak.
Both teams boast title-loving veterans and ambitious young blood, and there is no dearth of motivation or encouragement from both Governments and the football fraternity.
Like most championship games of this nature, the match may be decided from the dugout.
Morocco’s Spanish coach Jorge Vilda led his country to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Down Under two years ago, and there is hardly a bigger line that can be included in a coach’s resume than a World Cup triumph.
He has led the Atlas Lionesses with a firm hand and injected pace and purpose into their game, and they appear even stronger than the team that defeated nine-woman Super Falcons after a penalty shootout in a semi final match in Casablanca three years ago.
Yet, the attention of pundits across the globe has been drawn to the person of Coach Justine Madugu, previously seen only as assistant at major competitions, who is now dictating the pace of things at Africa’s flagship women competition.
Madugu has brought to enduring reality the tactical philosophy of ‘take it one game at a time’, playing to his team’s strength in each game, and despite loads of cynicism about his capabilities before the commencement of the tournament, four of his five opponents (bar the Lady Fennecs of Algeria who played the Super Falcons when the nine-time champions had already secured passage to the knockout stages) have left for the dressing room with bleary eyes.
Surely, he will play to his strength in this final match as well, meaning that all calculations, expectations and projections of the opposition will be blown to smithereens.
The Confederation of African Football, on Thursday, appointed Namibian official Antsino Twanyanyukwa as referee for Saturday night’s potentially-explosive encounter.
