Battle against Burundi: Plumptre to play, Christy, Monday eye goals, Waldrum bank on talents

Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum remains positive on the chances of defender Ashleigh Plumptre making a return to the squad for Sunday’s Group C clash against Burundi.

Plumptre started Nigeria’s opening game against South Africa at the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Ahead of the game against Burundi in Rabat, Waldrum provided a positive injury news update on the Leicester City player.

“We trained earlier, so we have an idea of where she is in her recovery,” Waldrum told a press conference on Saturday.

“But there’s a possibility that we will hold her again just to make sure she gets ready for the quarterfinals.

“Still, we would consider giving her some game time to get some minutes under her belt before the quarterfinal match. However, it all depends on the doctor.

“Nonetheless, if the game against Burundi were the quarterfinal, she would be playing.

“She’s capable of playing, but we also want to be smart.”

Falcons striker Gift Monday is upbeat clash with Burundi. 

Taking to her Twitter handle, Monday described her debut which incidentally marked coincided with the Super Falcons' first victory at the ongoing Championship in Morocco as a blessing.

“It is a true blessing and honour to have made my dreamed #WAFCON2022 debut with #TeamNigeria. To have played a part in our first win of the tournament is special and a great moment for my budding career. Now, I’m focused on the task ahead to do ???????? proud against Burundi #GM2” she enthused.

A win against Burundi will see the Super Falcons progress into the quarter-finals.

Goal scorer against Botswana Ucheibe Christy says she is tickled to have gotten the all-important goal that earned Falcons three vital points.

The team however earned first victory against Botswana on Thursday thanks to Christy’s lone goal. An elated Christy who plies her trade with Benfica is still savoring her first goal for the team describing it as an ‘important victory”

“I am so proud to have scored my first goal for the Super Falcons and helped the team secure this important victory” she enthused even as she looks forward to re-enacting the feat against Burundi on Sunday.

The former Nasarawa Amazons, national U-17 and U-20 ace received avalanche of commendations from fans who appreciated the goal and the manner in which she scored it when it mattered most.

Head Coach, Waldrum has insisted that the present team representing Nigeria at the 2022 WAFCON in Morocco is filled with a lot of exceptional talents.

The American Coach was answering questions from journalists ahead of their third group game against the ‘Swallows’ of Burundi on Sunday evening.

Waldrum, whose side has three points from two games, says he has been impressed with the team’s huge depth of talents and expects more against the Burundians.

‘No doubt, we have a lot of great talents in the squad. In the last game against Botswana, we saw Christy Ucheibe coming in to make a lot of difference. We do have a lot of options, Gift Monday also did brilliantly, and so was Macleans, Otu, and the rest.

“All the players in the team are capable of starting, and subsequently, they would get more time to play more.”