Captain Onome Ebi declared the Falcons would gun for victory in every game they play, regardless of the opposition
Nigeria’s national women’s football team, the Super Falcons, will hope for the best possible start as they begin their campaign at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup early Saturday morning in their group opener against Canada.
Though already at a disadvantage with two key players, Rasheedat Ajibade and Halimatu Ayinde, out of the game against the reigning Olympic Games champions, the Falcons are still optimistic they can get an excellent result in Saturday’s tie.
Ajibade and Ayinde were sent off in the second half of Nigeria’s Women’s AFCON semi-final match against Morocco last year and were given two-match bans.
They served one of the bans in the third-place game against Zambia days later and would now serve the second-match ban in the game against Canada.
In an interview with thenff.com ahead of Friday’s encounter, Captain Onome Ebi stated that the Falcons would push for the win regardless of the opposition.
“We look forward to an interesting match. The Super Falcons will not bother about any team’s pedigree at this World Cup. In each of our matches, we will play to win,” Ebi assured.
Interestingly, Ebi is the oldest player at this year’s World Cup, at 40 (35 days older than Sinclair), and is attending her sixth FIFA World Cup as well.
She debuted as a substitute during a game against the USA in 2003.
Historical perspective
In the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Nigeria and Canada have previously faced each other twice.
The opening match of the ninth edition will see these two teams clash at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Friday (early Saturday in Nigeria).
Their first encounter took place on 8 June 1995, in Sweden, at the Olympia in Helsingborg, where they played to an exciting 3-3 draw.
Nigeria’s goals were scored by Rita Nwadike, Patience Avre, and Adaku Okoroafor, responding after Canada had taken a 2-0 lead within the first 20 minutes. Both teams were eliminated at the group stage.
Their second meeting was at the 2011 edition in Germany when Nigeria won thanks to a 73rd-minute goal by Perpetua Nkwocha at the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium in Dresden. Unfortunately, both teams were eliminated in the group stage once more.
Canada had previously defeated the Super Falcons twice in friendly matches, but their most recent was a 2-2 tie in Victoria City in February 2022.
In the current context, Friday, 20 July 2023, holds promise for both teams. Canada’s national team boasts a strong reputation, particularly as reigning Olympic champions, and they have five players with over 100 international caps: Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, and Jessie Fleming.
Christine Sinclair, who is at her sixth World Cup finals, owns the record for the most international caps (323), as well as the most international goals (190).
Canada’s best performance in the Women’s World Cup came in 2003 when they reached the bronze medal match but lost to the hosts, the USA. In the World Cup, which they hosted eight years ago, the USA eliminated them in the quarterfinals.
Despite recent crisis points, the Super Falcons are in excellent spirits and are on a four-match winning run. They displayed readiness with an 8-1 victory over Queensland Lions FC in Brisbane. They have also secured wins against Costa Rica (in February), Haiti, and New Zealand in April.
The Super Falcons reached the quarterfinals of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, narrowly missing out on the semi-finals due to the golden goal rule.
Many have harped on the importance of the Falcons doing well against Canada if they are to realise their hopes of doing well at this World Cup.
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