Panic in Super Falcons’ camp ahead clash with ‘free scoring’ Lady Elephants

There is uneasy calm in the camp of the Super Falcons ahead of the tie with the Lady Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in last qualifying round of the 2022 AWCON championship.

The Super Falcons and Lady Elephants will tango over two legs for one slot at the Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by Morocco in July this year. Both teams square up at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja next week with the return at the Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan on Wednesday, February 23.

In 2019, the Lady Elephants eliminated the Super Falcons from the race to the Women’s Football Tournament of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

While the Coach Randy Waldrum-led Super Falcons defeated Ghana Black Queens 2-1 to hit the final phrase of the qualifier, the Lady Elephants walloped their counterparts from Niger Republic 20-0, including 9-0 in the first leg and 11-0 in the return leg.

The Guardian learnt yesterday that players and officials of the Super Falcons are having sleepless night ahead of the clash scheduled for Friday, February 18.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is doing everything possible to avoid a repeat of what happened at Agege Stadium, Lagos in 2019 by reinforcing the Super Falcons with addition of more technical officials and players.

For the Super Falcons, next week tie will be vengeance time against the Lady Elephants from Cote d’Ivoire.

Due to Kenya’s withdrawal, Uganda became the first team to officially join hosts, Morocco, for the final twelve-team tournament. Ten places will be filled next week. (Courtesy The Guardian)

•File: Super Falcons celebrate victory against Black Queens of Ghana in the second leg of their 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifier