- Nigeria's Super Falcons have booked their spot at next year's CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
- The Super Falcons secured their place in the biennial continental championship following a commanding [7-1] aggregate victory over Cape Verde.
The former African champions defeated the Cape Verdeans [5-0] in the first leg played at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja on November 30th.
In the return fixture decided at the Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde in Praia, the Super Falcons carved out a hard-fought [1-2] win to confirm their dominance over the Island nation.
The home side took an early lead courtesy of Ivania Tavares Moreira's 10th-minute strike, but Nigeria struck back in the 62nd minute through substitute, Esther Okoronkwo. It would be recalled that Okoronkwo came off the bench to score two excellent goals in the first leg in Abuja.
The Super Falcons created and missed loads of chances in the closing stages of the encounter before Atletico de Madrid forward, Rasheedat Ajibade netted the winning goal in the third minute of stoppage time to seal Nigeria's place at the festivities in Morocco.
Nigeria have never missed any edition of the WAFCON and have lifted the trophy a record nine times since it assumed a tournament format and 11 titles overall.
Incredibly, the Super Falcons have finished in the top four of every edition contested, more than South Africa (11), Cameroon (11), and Ghana (7). any other African nation.
The Super Falcons, however, finished fourth in the last edition, where South Africa defeated hosts Morocco in the final to claim their first continental honours.
Morocco will once again host the 15th edition of the tournament and the Super Falcons will see it as an opportunity to reclaim the trophy.
1 comment
Thank you for the analysis. This was well articulated and concise.