Izuchukwu OkosiNine-time African champions, Super Falcons, and the Indomitable Lionessess of Cameroon on Friday evening played out a goalless draw in the first leg, third round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers in Douala.
The Nigerian team has not qualified for the women’s football tournament of the Olympics since 2008 when they were eliminated in the group stage after two defeats and one draw.
Cameroon denied the Nigerian women the passage to the 2012 Olympics in London and the Nigerians also failed to reach the 2016 and 2020 editions as they were stopped by Equatorial Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire.
The duo of African Women’s Footballer of The Year, Asisat Oshoala and Toni Payne lost some glaring scoring chances to put Nigeria ahead but Ugandan referee Shamirah Nabadda ruled out a Jennifer Echegini 54th minute goal for suposedly being in an offside position.
The teams will face-off in the return leg on Monday at the MKO Abiola stadium, Abuja with the winner likely to play against South Africa in th next round of qualifiers.
The Bayana Bayana thrashed Tanzania 3-0 also on Friday evening and will meet the winner of the Nigeria versus Cameroon two-legged fixtures.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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