Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s World Cup stars say they are keen to give their very best on Tuesday evening and consign Ethiopia to the heap in order to reach the penultimate round of qualifiers for next year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in France.
Interim coach of the Falcons Justine Madugu said that his girls were disappointed by the first leg 1-1 result in East Africa and keen to step on the pedal at the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Tuesday evening.
“We were not too happy about the result of that first game. It’s unfortunate not to win the first leg but we are equally realistic with ourselves.
“We had some challenges in that game, and did our best to quickly surmount them. The girls have overcome those challenges and are really determined to make sure they are part of the Olympics next year.”
Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, who was formidable at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the summer and has been huge for French club Paris FC in the ongoing UEFA Women Champions League, assured that the playing body is inspired to brush aside the Ethiopian challenge and look forward to the Olympic ticket after two more rounds of the qualification series.
“Our plan was to win the first leg (in Addis Ababa), but we have taken the draw and the lessons that came from there.
“We are looking forward to the return match in Abuja and we will go all out for victory.”
Team captain Rasheedat Ajibade, as others, also spoke to the NFF Media Channel:
“The spirit in camp is excellent and we’re looking forward to victory. We will work very hard from the very first minute because we have no reason to under-rate them; they gave us a scare in the first leg. Our objective is to earn a clear win and make progress in the race.”
New-comer Rinsola Babajide, who won her first cap for Nigeria in Addis Ababa, said:
“Everybody wanted more from the first game; we know we under-performed. We really should have won but the circumstances made it difficult. Now, at home and in front of our own people, we’ve got the advantage and we just need to work harder than ever before, get the goals and most importantly, win on the day.”
Ethiopia’s senior girls will be no pushovers, as the team defeated their counterparts from Chad 10-0 on aggregate in the first round to be eligible to square up to the Super Falcons. They defeated Chad 6-0 in Addis Ababa and followed up with a 4-0 lashing of their hosts in N’Djamena a few days later.
The Super Falcons have not participated in the last three Women’s events of the Olympics.
Tuesday’s encounter at the MKO Abiola National Stadium will commence at 4pm.
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.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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