Nigeria’s senior women’s football squad, the Super Falcons, at the weekend in Cameroon reaffirmed their dominance on African female football when they successfully defended the trophy they won at the 9th edition of the African Women’s Championship staged in Namibia in 2014… and in a grand style.
It is the Super Falcons’ 8th title. They again piped their arch foes and next door neighbours, the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon, by 1 – 0 in the epic finale and before their vociferous fans. It would be recalled that the re-crowned continental champions met with the Lionesses in the 2014 grand finale and hit them by 2 – 0.
The Nigerian amazons left no one in doubt that they would return home with the trophy right from the onset of the 2016 tournament. In their opening match, they feasted on Mali by 6 – 0, drew 1 – 1 with Ghana and rounded off the group stage by whipping Kenya by 4 – 0. In the semifinal clash against South Africa, as it was in 2014, the predators hit the Bayana Bayana by a narrow 1 – 0.
At the end of the hostilities, the new reigning soccer queens emerged as the highest scoring team, netting 13 goals and conceding only one. Nigeria’s goal assassin, Assisat Oshoala, emerged as the winner of the Golden Boot after hauling six goals. She was voted the Most Valuable Player at the Namibia championship.
Until the Equatorial Guinea ended their dominant flight in 2008 at the semifinal stage, the Super Falcons had been a formidable force on the continent and the sole representatives of Africa at the global level.
In 1991 when the tournament was introduced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), they crushed the following oppositions to monopolise the trophy: Cameroon by 6 – 0 (1991); South Africa 11 – 2 (1995); Ghana 2 – 0 (2002); Cameroon 5 – 0 (2004) and Ghana 1 – 0 (2006).
While we celebrate the Super Falcons’ 8th triumph despite all odds and failure by the last administration to appropriately reward them for their feat in Namibia, we should look beyond the continent. Nigeria’s supremacy easily crumbles in the face of superior opposition from countries like the United States of America, Denmark, Germany and Norway. It is on record that the Super Falcons have failed to prove to be worthy ambassadors of the continent when it comes to global soccer. For instance, in 2003, the Nigerian girls were a super flop. They did not only lose all their Group A matches but also failed to score a single goal.
Women’s soccer is not improving in the country due to lack of vibrancy in the female league. The 5-star performance in Cameroon was not the first. It would be recalled that at the 2010 tournament held in South Africa, the Super Falcons put up a superlative presentation, running through the championship undefeated, scoring 19 goals and conceding only four. But at the 2011 global championship, the girls were roundly overwhelmed.
There is an urgent need to turn the fortunes of women’s soccer around if we are to move beyond the perennial mediocre performance at the international stage. We advise that the new champions should be exposed to big-time warm-up matches at the right time in preparation for the 2019 Women’s World Cup Finals qualifiers.
Worthy of commendation is the resolve of the players and their officials to prosecute the Cameroon championship with meagre incentives. This selfless and patriotic spirit is alien to Nigerian football. We are used to players bickering over their entitlements and refusing to turn up for international engagements, while they allege shortchanging by the nation’s soccer governing body.
We congratulate the Super Falcons, their chief coach, Florence Omagbemi and her backroom staff on making Nigeria proud. The gaffer has not only made history by being the first player and coach to win the diadem but also demonstrated that what a man can do, a woman can also do even in a grand style.
It is gratifying to note that President Muhammadu Buhari has hailed the performance of the Super Falcons. He should reward them handsomely as this will encourage and stimulate the interest of the upcoming female footballers in the country as well as nudge the game to a higher level.
However, the reported protest two or so days ago by the new champions over non-payment of their allowances and winning bonuses has cast slur on the nation’s football image. The federal government should not only step into the matter but also compel the appropriate authorities to come up with a reward system that will address these issues bedeviling our sports.
