World cup-bound Falcons clash with Dame Elephantes
Falcons are up against Côte d’Ivoire for finals. Photo/twitter/FIFAWWC_NGA
Nine-time African champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria will this afternoon clash with the host nation, Cote d’Ivoire, in the final of the 2019 West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Women’s Cup.
It will be the last assignment for the Falcons on African soil before departing for Austria, their campsite ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup holding in France. The team will arrive Nigeria tomorrow and depart for Austria on Monday night.
To get to the final, Falcons eliminated Cup holders, Ghana Black Queens in the second semi final following penalty shoot-out at the Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan on Thursday.
The encounter with Ghana was a repeat of last year’s semi final, which the Super Falcons lost, and although both teams had chances to score, regulation time ended 0-0 and the game had to go into penalty shoot-out. The Ghanaians fluffed two of their kicks to hand Nigeria victory.
“The competition has been quite interesting and it has been a great experience for the Super Falcons. Against the Ivorians, we will play our normal game, approach things calmly and take our chances,” an official of the team said yesterday.
“Winning the Cup would be good for the girls’ spirit and just reward for their endeavour here. It would also significantly motivate and spur those members of the team who will be going with us to the FIFA World Cup final camp in Austria on Monday.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has charged the Nigeria U-20 boys, Flying Eagles, to do the nation proud on and off the field at the FIFA U-20 World Cup starting in Poland on Thursday.
Two top NFF officials arrived at the Flying Eagles’ The Monarch Hotel camp in Bad Goegging, Germany yesterday morning, ahead of the team’s departure to the World Cup tomorrow.
“I have spoken to the head coach and he has assured me that you guys have made tremendous progress since arriving at the training camp here in Germany. Let me state clearly that as an U20 squad from Nigeria, so much is expected of you at the world stage. Nigeria has been in the final of the FIFA U20 World Cup on two occasions and won the bronze medals once before.
“The NFF and Nigerians generally, as well as the football world, expect so much from you in Poland. You must perform very well on the field while showing good attitude and sense of fairplay, and also make discipline, diligence and decency your watchwords off the field, in order to fly Nigeria’s flag high.”
The Flying Eagles engaged Red Bull Leipzig of Germany yesterday in their final pre-World Cup friendly, three days after drawing 1-1 with Red Bull Salzburg in another friendly in Austria.
The Flying Eagles delegation will fly from Germany to Tychy tomorrow. They will take on Qatar in their first match of the FIFA U20 World Cup on Friday, 24th May, before other Group D games against USA (27th May) and Ukraine (30th May).
Related
Sport
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
0 Comments
We will review and take appropriate action.