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BBC News
05-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Wafcon 2024: Some first-timers wey fit help Nigeria Super Falcons sustain dia legacy
Na few hours remain for di 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations [Wafcon] to start. Di opening ceremony go happun for di Olympic Stadium for Rabat. Di opening match na host Morocco vs Zambia. But for di Super Falcons of Nigeria, na less dan one day to dia opening match. Di Super Falcons na one of di strongest sides for dis tournament. In fact, dem be di most decorated sake of say dem bin don win di trophy nine times. Now dem dey compete to win dia 10th title. No women's team for Africa don come near dis achievement, na why Head Coach of di team Justin Madugu tell Nigerians say dem dey do evritin to make sure say di team maintain di confidence wey dem get ova di years. "We dey do evritin on our part to make sure say we sustain di confidence wey Nigerians don give us, we go try as much as possible to meet una expectations, make una kontinu to trust and support di team." Join Pidgin WhatsApp Channel for more tori on Wafcon 2024. Coach Justin Madugu take ova from American Coach Randy Waldrum wey bin dey lead di team from 2020 till September 2024. As Madugu don come now, im fit help Super Falcons overcome dia shortcomings? Wetin be di shortcomings of di Super Falcons? Some pipo go still ask wetin be di shortcomings of a team wey dey always represent for women's football for Africa and nobody don beat dia record till now. Di answer be say even though dis team dey shine well-well according to history, dem neva too perform well in recent years. Di last time wey dem win dis Wafcon trophy na six years ago, 2018 wen dem beat South Africa [4-3] on penalties for Accra Ghana. Wen former Coach Randy Waldrum bin take over for 2020, expectations bin no too high sake of say di man na University student coach and im bin dey do di Super Falcons job side by side wit im oda work. Randy Waldrum bin no to dey steady wit di team and some women's football pundits bin tok say na one of dis distractions wey di team bin get. Randy Waldrum manage carry dem finish fourth for di 2022 edition, na Zambia beat dem 1-0 for di third place match for Morocco. Now wey Justin Madugu don take charge of di team, Nigerians believe say im go do well. Nigeria dey Group B wit Tunisia, Algeria, Botswana, Nigerians believe say di kontri go qualify from dis group. Some oda pipo dey argue say host kontri Morocco fit win sake of di way dia women football dey grow and di kain players wey dem get. See di complete Wafcon 2024 squad and di ogbonge players wey dey dis tournament. Who be di first timers and wetin dem fit do Di Nigeria squad list for di 2024 Wafcon get a combination of both old and young players. And on Friday, di players get dia official jersey numbers for di tournament. Some of di Wafcon first-timers na homebased players from di Nigeria Women Premier League [NWPL]. Miracle Usani - She be defender wit Edo Queens. For 2022 she bin win bronze medal for di U17 Women's World Cup. Di Confederation of African Football [Caf] bin also name her for di Women's Champions League Best XI [Eleven] She win di West Africa Football Union [Wafu B] Women Champions League qualifier last season for Ivory Coast. Miracle wey dey 18 years na one of di most promising defensive talents for Nigeria. Dem fit add value to di team and dem go try to show say dem no come dis tournament to play, some of dem na: Racheal Onachukwu - Na Goalkeeper wey dey play for Nasarawa Amazons. She be dia number one goalkeeper and Sikiratu Isah of Nasarawa Amazons too go play dia first Wafcon. Oda players to watch na Shikurat Oladipo wey come from FC Robo Queens for Nigeria move to AS Roma Ladies. Experienced hands Di Wafcon team get plenti players wey don win di title bifor, dis players don play for di higest level of international footballl. Di likes of Francesca Ordega wey dey currently play for Ittihad Ladies Club, Saudi Arabia. Osinachi Ohale don dey play for di national team for ova 10 years, she bin start wit U – 20 for 2010. She be part of di team wey bin win in di title 4 times back to back. Tochukwu Oluehi na di former number one goalkeeper for Super Falcon bifor Chiamaka take ova. Di former Rivers Angels goalkeeper still dey play professional football. She aslo get Wafcon titles to her name. Asisat Oshoala na di most decorated Women's Footballer for Africa. She don win multiple Wafcon titles and also Caf Women's Player of di Year a record six times. Di question na if di experience wey dis players get go pay-off dis time. Na only time go tell if dia experiences fit help Nigeria win dia 10th title.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
2024 WAFCON Group B Preview: Nigeria's Super Falcons Looking To Soar Again
Having returned to the Olympics last year, Nigeria will now set their eyes on reclaiming the WAFCON ... More crown. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images) Nigeria have an incredible record of having won all but three editions of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) to date. As ever, they will be seeking to add to their tally this time around and should be on course for a smooth start in Group B. 🇳🇬 Nigeria Current FIFA Ranking: #36 WAFCON History: 14 previous appearances; best result: Champions (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018) Nigeria have never failed to win the title in two consecutive editions of the WAFCON, but they will have to face that prospect this year. After losing at the semifinal stage last time around, they can only expect to face even more stiff competition now. Like fellow African representatives Zambia, Nigeria lost all three group games at the 2024 Olympics. However, they only fell short by one-goal margins against giants like Spain and Brazil, so they can take a lot of encouragement from those performances. This will be the first serious test for interim head coach Justin Madugu, who took over after Randy Waldrum's resignation last September. The American tactician enjoyed a good few years with the team but had a tense relationship with the football association board almost throughout. Madugu was one of the assitsants in his coaching staff, so it will be interesting to see how many tactical changes he makes. Chiamaka Nnadozie is without a club at the time of writing as her contract with Paris FC expired at the end of the 2024/25 season, though she should surely not be short of offers. The 24-year-old shot-stopper has developed quite a reputation of being a penalty-killer, so the Super Falcons are sure to have an edge in any shootouts. Her saves could well prevent them from ever reaching such a position, too. Regardless of the development of other competitors, Nigeria never expected anything less than the trophy as they head into the WAFCON. They still are the highest-ranked team on the continent by some margin, so they must be considered favorites. 🇹🇳 Tunisia Current FIFA Ranking: #89 WAFCON History: 2 previous appearances; best result: quarterfinalists (2022) Tunisia enjoyed their best continental campaign in their second WAFCON appearance last time with a run to the quarterfinal, but have not preserved positive momentum since then. Kamel Saada, who became the team's head coach in 2024, will lead them into a major tournament for the first time this summer. The Eagles of Carthage suffered a couple of setbacks in qualifiers over the last year. Their loss to Morocco in Olympic qualifying was to be expected, so the defeat to the significantly lower-ranked Kenya in the first round of WAFCON 2026 qualifying was more damning. That loss was by just a solitary goal, and they did register wins over group rivals Algeria and Botswana in other matches in 2024. So, they should have a good chance to put the recent disappointments behind them. Experienced forward Mariem Houij certainly has an eye for goal. She averaged close to a goal per game over a six-year period in Türkiye before moving to Saudi Arabia ahead of the 2024/25 seasons. She improved her rate even further for promotion-chasers Abha, who achieved their goal of reaching the top flight thanks in no small part to her contribution. While Nigeria are the clear favorites in this group, the fight for second place behind them is quite open. Tunisia should aim to capture that spot and not have to rely on other results to progress to the quarterfinals. 🇩🇿 Algeria Current FIFA Ranking: #82 WAFCON History: 5 previous appearances; group stage (2004, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018) Algeria are the only team to have reached the WAFCON five or more times without ever getting past the group stage. Group B will certainly present them with a good chance to shake off that unwanted record. The Fennecs have won 11 of their last 15 matches, including the qualification playoff final for this tournament. Their only losses came against Nigeria and Tunisia, though they did also draw with the latter opponents on one occasion. While that is an impressive record, it also highlights their relative lack of match action against the level of opposition they will face at the WAFCON. Lina Boussaha will represent Algeria at a major tournament for the first time this summer, having accepted her first call-up in 2023. The Paris-born midfielder has spent most of her career so far in France, but has been with Al Nassr since 2023. She has been a clear standout in Saudi Arabia over the last two years and will surely impress in Morocco. Having strengthened their squad since their last WAFCON appearance in 2018, Algeria should aim to finally break their knockouts duck. In fact, they are the second highest-ranked team in the group, so this must be considered the best chance they have had. 🇧🇼 Botswana Current FIFA Ranking: #153 WAFCON History: 1 previous appearance; quarterfinalists (2022) Botswana might be the lowest-ranked team at this edition of the WAFCON, but if there is anything others should have learned from their debut last time around, it is that writing them off would not be a good idea. Like their group mates Tunisia, Botswana are already out of the next WAFCON having lost in the first round of the qualifiers to DR Congo earlier this year. Thereafter, though, they put up good fights to narrowly lose to South Africa and draw with Zambia. While their opponents did not field full-strength XIs, the Zebras should still be pleased with such performances against stronger sides. Refilwe Tholakele is approaching 30 years of age and is now among the senior members in the Botswana squad. In addition to 15 goals in 19 international caps, she has enjoyed success on the continental stage with club side Mamelodi Sundowns, whom she fired to the CAF Champions League title in 2023. Her movement, ball-carrying and powerful ball-striking will help her make something out of nothing even if she does not receive a lot of support in attack. After reaching the quarterfinals last time around, Botswana might well aim to repeat the trick this summer. They should still go into their games as underdogs, but a result against either of Tunisia or Algeria would not be an unrealistic ambition.
