Today, the Falconets of Nigeria will hope to advance to the quarterfinal of this year’s U20 Women’s World Cup against England despite the many obstacles they have encountered leading up to this tournament.
They are at the World Cup in Poland without captain Joy Igbokwe and two other key players no thanks to a visa hitch, while Benfica striker Janet ‘Semenya’ Akekoromowei was only released by the Portuguese champions after much pressure.
As expected, the Falconets smashed past debutants New Caledonia 10-1 to be the only African team to march into the knockout rounds of the World Cup.
However, even in the euphoria of this record victory it has emerged that there are cracks within the team as some players have openly complained they have been deliberately cut off during that particular match.
A team source told SCORENigeria: “There are divisions in the team as some players are intentionally cutting off others.
“No one wants to talk about this, but that is the reality.”
Kick-off time today is 2pm and the prize for the winners of this Round of 16 tie will be a quarterfinal against either hosts Poland or Colombia.
