Falconets in Lionesses’
den
Walk tight rope against Cameroon en route Chile
By EMMA NJOKU
Saturday,
April 19, 2008
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| Photo:
Sun News Publishing |
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Nigeria’s Under-19 female football team, the Falconets,
face a daunting task this afternoon in Yaounde when they take
on their Cameroonian counterparts in an African qualifier
for the FIFA Under-19 Women’s Championship holding in
Chile later in the year.
The Coach Dan Evumena-tutored side walk a tight rope after
struggling to beat the Cameroonian girls by a slim 1–0
scoreline in the first leg encounter decided a fortnight ago
inside the magnificent Abuja National Stadium.
But Evumena, who blamed the low scoreline against the Central
African nation on inexperience on the part of his girls, has
expressed confidence that the Falconets would go past Cameroon
this afternoon on the way to Nigeria’s fourth consecutive
appearance at the global tournament.
To underline the importance of today’s encounter, the
former Delta Queens coach has strengthened the team with the
inclusion of six professional Super Falcons players, who are
within the age bracket of the competition. Prominent among
them are the duo of Rita Chikwelu and Chichi Igho, both of
who are strikers.
Both players are expected to add bite to the Falconets’
attack to ensure the goalscoring worries experienced in the
first leg encounter become a thing of the past by pumping
enough goals into the net of the Cameroonians right in front
of their home fans.
The Falconets need just a goalless scoreline from today’s
encounter to book passage to the next round in the qualifying
series, while the Lionesses must win by two unreplied goals
to stop Nigeria from going to the Chile event.
The winners of the two-legged encounter will meet the winners
of the fixture between Ghana’s Princesses and Botswana’s
female Under-19 national team in the next stage of the qualifiers.
The Falconets have featured in all the previous editions of
the FIFA Under-19 Women’s Championship since the tournament
was introduce in 2002 with the maiden edition held in Canada.
Thailand held the second edition in 2004, while the third
edition was held in Russia in 2006.
Nigeria’s best outing at the world championship was
recorded at the second edition in Thailand, when the Felix
Ibeh Ukwu-tutored Falconets got to the quarterfinal stage.
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