Nigeria draws first blood, beats Ghana 2-0 in Lagos

Super Falcons, yesterday, at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos, beat Black Queens of Ghana 2-0 in the first leg of their Morocco 2022 African Women Cup of Nations qualifier.

Uchenna Kanu was the hero as she scored the two goals in the first half to make the return leg in Ghana on Sunday a bit easier.

Kanu’s first goal came off a header in the 21st minute, while the second in the 27th minute off a corner kick from the right flank.

Super Falcons, who are the defending champions of the Women Nations Cup, will go into the second leg in Accra knowing that they need to concede less than the two goals they scored yesterday to qualify for the final qualifying round of next year’s championship in Morocco.

In other matches also played yesterday, 2018 finalists, South Africa, defeated Mozambique 7-0 in Maputo, Kenya beat South Sudan 8-0, just as Cameroun, Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe also won their respective games against Central African Republic, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Eswatini.

The aggregate winners of the 22 first-round ties will reach the second round of qualifying, which will decide the 11 nations joining hosts Morocco at next year’s finals.

The 2022 tournament – the first since 2018 after the 2020 edition was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic – will be held from July 2 to 23.

The semi-finalists at the Nations Cup will qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand, while two other countries will progress to an inter-continental play-off tournament.