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Tag: FIFA Women WC

  • 2023 FIFA Women’s WC: Super Falcons will not disappoint – Onome Ebi

    2023 FIFA Women’s WC: Super Falcons will not disappoint – Onome Ebi

    Super Falcons captain, Onome Ebi has assured Nigerian fans that the team will not disappoint at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

    The former African champions have attended the last five FIFA editions of the world cup.

    The Super Falcons, who are Africa’s most successful side made it to the quarter-final once, at the 1999 edition hosted by the United States of America.

    The West Africans were eliminated in the second round by Germany four years ago in France.

    The Super Falcons will slug it out with Olympic champions, Canada, Australia and the Republic of Ireland in  group A,

    Super Falcons first game of the competition will be against Canada in the early hours of Friday.

     

    Recall that the Super Falcons finished in the fourth position at the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations last year in Morocco.

    Ebi, who will be making her sixth World Cup appearance in Australia and New Zealand said the team has high hopes going into the competition.

    “Our ambition, definitely, is to do our best. We approach this World Cup with the mindset of performing to our utmost best and conquering. We had some disappointments at the last Africa Women’s Cup of Nations where we did not put the best performance,” the centre-back said in an interview with CAFOnline.

    “We have the opportunity at the World Cup where we do not want to disappoint again. I have faith in my team and I like our current state of mind. The team is united and I believe we will be able to do great things at the World Cup. We are motivated and we want to hoist Nigeria’s flag to the highest point.

    “The ball is in our court as players and we have to do everything to be on fire physically and mentally for this opportunity.”

    The Super Falcons will take on Canada in their first game on Thursday.

  • 2023 FIFA Women’s WC: Super Falcons land in Brisbane to continue preparation

    2023 FIFA Women’s WC: Super Falcons land in Brisbane to continue preparation

    The Super Falcons of Nigeria  landed in  Brisbane, Australia on Sunday morning for their final preparation ahead of the   2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup starting on Thursday.

    The players and their officials were met on arrival by the FIFA team and Nigerian community in Australia.

    Randy Waldrum’s side are based at the Sofitel Luxury Hotels, Brisbane.

     

    The Nigerian ladies spanked  Australian side, Queensland Lions FC 8-1 in a friendly encounter on Saturday morning.

    Barcelona Femeni star, Asisat Oshoala bagged a brace in the encounter.

    Ifeoma Onumonu, Rasheedat Ajibade, Monday Gift , Toni Payne and Uchenna Kanu scored the other goals for the Super Falcons.

    The team will depart for Melbourne on the eve of their opening fixture against olympic champions, Canada

    The encounter is slated for Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Friday, July 21.

    Co-hosts Australia and Republic of Ireland are the other teams in the group.

  • FIFA World Cup: Reaching the knockout stage is our primary target – Waldrum

    FIFA World Cup: Reaching the knockout stage is our primary target – Waldrum

    After the disappointment of failing to make the dream of La Decima (The Tenth) come true at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in staged by Morocco last year – the Super Falcons even failing to make the podium for the first time in many years – Head Coach Randy Waldrum is optimistic of an impressive performance at the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup finals coming up in Australia & New Zealand in the summer.

    The American tactician is full of optimism, and is confident that his team can go far in the global tournament, but insists they have to take it one step at a time to achieve greatness.

    “The first target for us at the World Cup is to advance out of the group stage,” Waldrum told the thenff.com.

    “Everyone wants to get to the knockout stage but obviously in order to achieve that, you have to advance out of the group,

    and now, our focus is principally on doing that.”

    The Super Falcons survived a huge scare at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. Even though the team finished in fourth place, thereby picking the last automatic ticket from Africa to Australia & New Zealand, Nigerians saw it as a disappointing outing, and rightly so. For a team that had won nine of the previous 11 editions of the competition, losing three out of its six matches in Morocco was seen as a disaster.

    The team lost to eventual champions South Africa narrowly in the opening match, and then lost to the host nation Morocco via the lottery of penalty shootout in the semi finals – with two key players red-carded. As it turned out, the Falcons failed to overcome the set-back as they eventually lost to Zambia in the third-place match by a lone goal.

    Waldrum would want to quickly wipe out such an unflattering record with a better and improved performance by the most successful women’s team in Africa at the forthcoming World Cup to be co-hosted Down Under.

    Nigeria will tackle Olympic champions Canada, co-hosts Australia and Republic of Ireland in the group stage of the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup finals ever, in group B of the tournament that begins on 20th July. Australia & New Zealand 2023 is the first time that the FIFA Women’s World Cup will welcome 32 teams – the same number as the men’s tournament.

    The Falcons will be domiciled in Brisbane where they will play two of their three matches, with the other game in another Australian city, Melbourne.

    Nigeria is in the elite group of only seven countries that have never failed to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the competition was launched in China 32 years ago.