Waldrum leads Falcons to Douala as Nigeria, Cameroon battle for ticket

Coach Randy Waldrum, who has not managed the Super Falcons since he led Nigeria to the second round of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand/Australia, is expected to lead the team to the penultimate round of qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympics’ women football event.

The Nigerian delegation will leave for Douala this evening to continue preparation for the first leg of the qualifying tie, which holds on Friday in the Cameroonian city.

According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), all the players invited for the tie have arrived in the team’s Abuja camp as of yesterday afternoon, except for the duo of midfielder, Tony Payne and forward, Uchenna Kanu, who were expected to jet in last night.

Coach Randy Waldrum has selected 21 players, who will all be on the trip to Douala, and then fly down to Abuja on Sunday morning for the return leg against the Lionesses, which will hold at the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Monday evening.

The NFF said Waldrum and his assistants would lead the full squad on a training session at the main bowl of MKO Abiola National Stadium this evening before the delegation’s departure to Douala.

It added that the team would have the official training at the Stade de la Reunification in Douala tomorrow evening.

If Nigeria beats Cameroon over the two legs of the tie, it will get closer to its first Olympics women’s football appearance in 16 years.

The Super Falcons last participated at the Women’s Olympic football event in China in 2008, when they lost by the odd goal to both the Democratic Republic of Korea and Germany in Shenyang, and 1-3 to Brazil in Beijing to crash out at group stage.

Friday’s opponents, Cameroon, stopped Nigeria from qualifying for the London 2012 edition of the Games through the penalty shootout lottery after both teams had ended their qualifying tie in a stalemate. Equatorial Guinea made the journey to Rio 2016 impossible and Cote d’Ivoire bumped the Falcons in the race to a place in Tokyo on the away goals rule.

After eliminating Ethiopia in the second round of the series, the Super Falcons must now cross the Cameroonian hurdle to reach the final round of the African qualification series and throw down the gauntlet to whichever opposition appears at that stage in two months’ time.