Sports
FOOTBALL enthusiasts in Enugu on Thursday hailed Super Falcons for defeating Cape Verde 5-0 in the first leg of the 2024 Women Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uchenna Kanu and Esther Okoronkwo scored two goals each and Gift Monday completed the rout at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
Some football enthusiasts who spoke to NAN after the match said the team was well selected and was full of energy and zeal.
Okey Nnamani, Coal City Babes FC coach, said results like the 5-0 against Cape Verde was what football lovers had been expecting from the national teams.
“A result like this is what we have been expecting for a long time.
“Home grown players deserve more chances looking at the performance of the home based players in the match.
“We need hungry players like the home based players who always want to give thier all in order to secure greener pastures outside the country,” said Nnamani.
He added that the hard work of the female coaches at the grassroots had started yielding result, especially looking back at the performance of the Female National team at he last female world cup.
Director Dynamos FC of Enugu, Godwin Onwukwe, said the performance of the players sent a clear massage that the country’s female team was coming back to its golden days.
“Our team performed wonderfully and the beauty of it all was the score line in which three home based players gave the visitors food for thought with goals.
“There is a wide gap between the development of the female football in the country compared to male football, and that showed in the result of today’s match.
“Super Falcons showed the transformation in grassroots female football in Nigeria and that brings to light the great work by our female football handlers in the country,” Onwukwe said.
A player, Chidera Pius, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team, saying that the score line was respectful considering the pedigree of Nigerian team.
“What interests me most was the clean sheet in a match where home based players were given opportunity to play,” he said.
Pius urged Super Falcons and the coaches not to relax as the job was half done, with the second leg still to come in Cape Verde.
NAN reports that Nigeria walked over São Tomé e Príncipe in the first round, while Cape Verde claimed an impressive 6-3 aggregate win over Liberia to set up the clash with the Falcons. (NAN)
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December 1, 2023 @ 5:37 GMT|
Tags: Uchenna Kanu
