Fans Raise Eyebrow, As Ikidi Returns To Falcons

IN what appears a surprise Valentine package, head coach of the Super Falcons, Edwin Okon, Friday recalled Sweden-based defender, Faith Ikidi, to the squad in preparation for the qualifiers for the 11th All-Africa Games and the 2016 Olympic Games, as well as the 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals. 

  Ikidi has not played for Nigeria since 2012, but Okon decided to include her in the list of 36 players invited to the Super Falcons camp.

  The players, made up of 10 foreign-based and 26 home girls, are to report at the Serob Legacy Hotel, Abuja on Sunday, February 22 with their training kits, international passports and birth certificates.

  While Ikidi is making a return to the team, former African Footballer of the year, Perpetua Nkwocha, is missing on the list released Friday.

  After playing in the domestic league for years, Ikidi, alongside Yinka Kudaisi and Maureen Madu, took her football trade to Sweden, where she joined QBIK FC in 2006. But the Swedish club terminated their contract when they came to Nigeria for the 2006 AWC hosted in Warri, Delta State. 

  Ikidi last featured for the Falcons in 2012 under Coach Kadiri Ikhana in a match against Zimbabwe. She played alongside Rita Chikwelu, Cynthia Uwak and Helen Ukaonu in that match, which the Falcons won 2-0.

  While her contemporaries like Kudaisi, Madu, Uwak, Chikwelu and Ukaonu have since paved the way for younger players in the Falcons, the invitation of Ikidi for the World Cup is seen in some quarters as a ‘wrong step.’

  Efforts to speak with Coach Okon on what prompted the invitation of Ikidi were unsuccessful Friday.

  Among those invited are Ibubeleye Whyte, Precious Dede, Onome Ebi, Asisat Oshoala, Uchechi Sunday and Desire Oparanozie.

  The Falcons have an All-Africa Games qualifier away to Mali on March 22, with the return leg in Nigeria three weeks later, before they clash with the same Malian side in May in a 2016 Olympic Games qualifying fixture. The 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals take place in Canada from June 6 to July 5, 2015.

  There were suggestions yesterday that the NFF should split the Super Falcons into Team A and B for the country to achieve good results in the three competitions. Those who spoke with The Guardian said that such system would give room for younger players to showcase their talents.

 “It is not good for Nigeria to put all eggs in one basket. We need a Falcons Team B to handle the All African Games and Olympics Games qualifiers. It worked perfectly for us during the COJA Games in 2003,” one sports analyst said Friday.