.As Ikidi makes World’s top 40
BY MONICA IHEAKAM
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have showered encomiums on legendary Super Falcons striker Perpetual Nkwocha.
The NFF via their verified twitter handle sent special birthday greetings to Nkwocha who turned 42 on Wednesday .
“Happy birthday to Africa and Nigeria Women football legend, Perpetual Nkwocha Nwufor. Thank you for the memories,” the NFF wrote.
Nkwocha made her debut for the Super Falcons in 1999 before retiring in 2015 after 99 appearances and 80 goals.
She won the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) on five occasions with the Falcons (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014).
She represented Nigeria at four FIFA Women’s World Cup (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) and three Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008).
Also, she was crowned CAF African Women’s Footballer of the Year four times (2004, 2005, 2010, 2011).
In a related development, Super Falcons defender Faith Ikidi has been named in the Top 100 Female footballers of 2017 by VAVEL UK.
The Piteå IF long-serving defender, who represented Bayelsa Queens prior to her move to Europe, ranked 32nd on the list.
‘’Over the years, the Swedish Damallsvenskan has been home to a number of great centrebacks and Faith Ikidi is up there with the best of them, and this season she has arguably been one of the best, if not the best defender in Sweden,’’ the website wrote on Ikidi.
‘’One of the first names on the team-sheet, Ikidi played every second for Piteå this season and was key in PIF’s defensive rigidity, the Northern most team in Damallsvenskan boasting the fewest goals conceded over the course of the year.’’
Nominated as the best defender at the Swedish Football Awards, Ikidi eventually lost out to Swedish international, Jessica Samuelson.
The 30-year-old helped Nigeria win the 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations held in Cameroon.