The Super Falcons of Nigeria will take on the Ladies Elephants of Ivory Coast in the first leg of the African Women’s Championship in Abuja on Thursday.
The Falcons are desperate to win their nineth African title in Morroco later this year, but they must first overcome the dangerous Ivorians in the final phase of the qualifiers.
The Ladies Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire have proved to be difficult knots for the Falcons to crack lately. Their recent triumph over the Falcons was in 2019, when they edge the African Champions at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifier in 2019.
Nigeria’s only triumph over the Ivorians in the last five meetings came via a penalty shootout after Uchenna Kanu’s late finish cancelled Ange N’Guessan’s opener in the 2019 WAFU Cup final in Abidjan.
Chatting with CAFonline ahead of the first leg, Randy Waldrum said, he’s unmoved by the recent poor records against the Ivorians.
“The spirit in the camp is very high and positive. The players have been looking forward to these matches for some time now and their professionalism has been fantastic,” Waldrum told CAFOnline.com.
“I think we have a good understanding of Cote d’Ivoire and their current side. I’m not big on past history as that is why they call it history. The previous matches have no bearing on this one.
“We recognize the strengths of our opponents and will be prepared for that. Obviously, it’s vitally important to our goals of achieving another FIFA Women’s World Cup berth. Playing the first match at home is important as well to get on the front foot in everything we do.”
In October, the African champions advanced on a 2-1 aggregate win over Ghana despite a 1-0 second-leg loss in Accra, which marked their first-ever defeat in the history of the WAFCON qualifiers.
COMMENTS