Wafcon 2024: Super Falcons off to Cape Verde, sure of ticket
By
Harry Awurumibe,
Africa’s No.1 Women Football Journalist
Determined to finish on the high, Nigeria’s senior women's football team Super Falcons have departed Nigeria for Cape Verde ahead of Tuesday’s return leg of the final round of Morocco 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifiers against Cape Verdean senior women’s team.
Nigeria thrashed Cape Verde 5-0 in the first leg tie at Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja last Thursday to put one leg in Morocco but to be sure of qualification the Super Falcons have to see off their opponents in the second leg billed for Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde, a multi-purpose stadium in Praia,
According to Prompt News the Nigerian delegation of 20 players, coaching crew, and backroom staff as well as Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Assistant Director, Technical, Coach Abdulrafiu Yusuf, departed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the early hours of Saturday for Cape Verde via Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
The team which left Lagos at exactly 10:55 am aboard Air Cote D’Ivoire will touch down later today at Amílcar Cabral International Airport also known as Sal International Airport on Sal Island, in Cape Verde.
In chat ahead of Saturday’s trip to Cape Verde, Super Falcons Interim Head Coach Justin Madugu assured the nation that his wards will not take their legs from the pedals until the Morocco 2024 ticket is secured in Praia on Tuesday, pointing out that in football the last result does not matter much because anything can happen in 90 minutes of the game.
“I want to assure our nation that we shall not rest on our oars as we travel to Cape Verde. I have told the players that our job is not done yet. We have only won the first leg but we have another 90 minutes to play in the return leg in our opponent's home turf. We have to approach the match like we did not win the first leg.
“Football is an interesting game so if you are not prepared, you can be embarrassed on a bad day. This is why we are going ahead of time to rest fully for the clash on Tuesday. I am hopeful, we shall win away from home. We shall complete the good job we started in Abuja but we need the prayers of our teeming supporters”, Madugu submitted.
The winner of the double-header will qualify for the WAFCON final slated for Morocco in July next year. Nigeria has never missed the biennial African women’s football fiesta since it was first played in Nigeria in 1998.
