Sports
NFF Gives Falconets Trophy Mandate
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has charged the Falconets to aim for the trophy at the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup holding in Canada.
This charge was made to the players by the Technical Director of the Federation, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme, while addressing them at the pitch of the FIFA Goal Project after a training session on Monday.
Ikpeme told the girls that it would be an ‘abomination’ to go to the competition in Canada and not get to the final. He therefore emphasized on the need for the team to be determined to be the first women’s team to win the trophy.
“You need to be technical and tactical in your play to ensure that the ball only gets to your team mate and not an opponent.”
Ikpeme further congratulated the Falconets for winning all their qualifying matches, but noted that the World Cup is where they will face tougher challenges. He therefore admonished them on the need to pay attention to their technical crew during trainings and during matches.
The NFF has organized a friendly game between the Falconets and their Ghanaian counterparts, and Ikpeme told the team that the Federation is looking into the possibility of organizing more of such games to aid their preparations.
“The Federation will look at the possibility of organising more friendlies before the team embarks on training tour,” he said.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.