Asisat Oshoala speaks on bad preparations and how it almost cost Nigeria a 9th AWCON title on Saturday
Ghanaian journalist Akosua Addai Amoo asked Asisat Oshoala about the importance of proper preparation and this was her reply:
Of course it’s very important. It’s one of the things that actually affected us in this tournament. You could see a lot of countries that we could beat normally, like South Africa, I don’t think that they have a team that can actually stand the Super Falcons if we actually prepared very well, if we played series of games before the tournament.
But, I mean, with bad preparation, I mean, we were still able to retain the trophy. It just shows the team spirit, the hunger from the girls and how much the team wanted to succeed, even without (proper preparation).
naptu2: Now that we've won the AWCON, we need to start preparing for the World Cup immediately. There is no time.
The NFF needs to quickly organise quality friendly matches for the Falcons. We still have a lot of good players that were not at this AWCON (Ini Umotong, Courtney Dike, Sophia Omidiji, Folashade Ijamilusi, etc) and we need to try them out.
It is a miracle that the Super Falcons of Nigeria have qualified for the 2018 AWCON final because they’ve suffered a torrid time since winning the 2016 AWCON in Cameroon.
The Super Falcons’ woes began even before they played the final match at the 2016 AWCON. They had heard that the sports minister, Solomon Dalung and members of the NFF led by their president, Amaju Pinnick, would come and address the team, especially on issues concerning their camp allowances, winning bonuses and the coaches’ nine months salaries would be settled.
However, the sports minister, NFF president and their delegation flew into Yaounde in a chartered jet, stayed at the airport until it was almost time for the match, drove straight to the stadium to watch the match without seeing the Falcons and then drove back to the airport after the match and flew to Nigeria without seeing the players.
The VIPs flew into Yaounde in a chartered jet, but the players had to fly back to Nigeria via commercial flights. They had to fly from Yaounde to Douala in a plane that was too small to carry their luggage (their luggage was transported by road) and then fly from Douala to Abuja.
Protest
Their allowances and bonuses were still not paid when they returned to Abuja and they had to stage a sit in protest at their hotel.
Meanwhile, the Lionesses of Cameroon that were beaten by the Falcons were being hosted by President Biya at a state reception in which they were showered gifts, given medals and praised as heros of Cameroon. [img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/11/reception_lionnes_full_08_12_2016.jpg?w=584[/img] Gaelle Enganamouit and other lionesses being hosted to a reception by President Biya of Cameroon after coming second at the 2016 AWCON.
The Falcons protested at their hotel until they were evicted, then they carried their protest to the streets. They staged a protest march to the National Assembly and they also marched to the Aso Rock Villa where they were received by the chief of staff to the president. The COS promised that President Buhari would intervene in their situation.
It took an intervention by President Buhari before the Falcons and their coaches were paid their entitlements.
Florence Omagbemi
Some members of the NFF were angry that the Falcons staged a protest in Abuja. They believed that the Falcons embarrassed the NFF before the government and people of Nigeria and they held Coach Florence Omagbemi responsible for the protest.
They believed that Coach Omagbemi was responsible because she did not control her players and prevent them from protesting, so they decided that she must go. They decided that they would either appoint a foreigner as coach of the Falcons or they would recall the former coach, Edwin Okon, to take over as coach.
The NFF initially ignored Coach Omagbemi for months, then they directed her to apply for her job. They eventually frustrated her out of the job and the Falcons were without a coach for many months.
The Falcons complain
After spending 8 months without a coach, a warm up session or a friendly match, the Falcons took to social media to stage another protest. They complained that other African teams were playing friendly matches and progressing, while the Falcons had been dormant and regressing. The Falcons had won the AWCON in December 2016, but they had not been involved in any activity till October 2017 when they complained on social media. Some people felt that the Falcons were being punished for their protest while others felt that the NFF was focusing solely on the Super Eagles’ qualification for the World Cup in Russia to the detriment of the other national teams.
The NFF responds Eventually, in November 2017, the president of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick, declared that the NFF had not abandoned the Super Falcons. He also declared that a new foreign coach would be in Nigeria to sign a contract within a week.
New coach or no new coach? The next week the NFF announced that an American, Randy Waldrum, had been appointed as the new coach of the Super Falcons. However, Randy Waldrum became the coach of the University of Pittsburgh in December 2017. The NFF had announced that he was the Falcons coach without signing a contract with him!
Thomas Dennerby and friendlies The NFF eventually signed Thomas Dennerby as the new coach of the Falcons in January 2018, more than a year after the 2016 AWCON. They also announced that the Super Falcons would feature in the Alanya Women’s tournament in Turkey alongside Mexico, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia and France’s B team. The Falcons were scheduled to play a friendly match against France in April 2018.
The Falcons participated in the WAFU Cup tournament in February 2018, but it was basically a home based team and it was mainly made up of players from the Under 20 squad (e.g. Rasheedat Ajibade and Anam Imo). Nigeria lost to Ghana on penalties in the semi-final and defeated Mali in the third place match.
Nigeria played against France in a friendly match on April 6th, 2018. It was the first time that the full senior team was playing together since December 2016. Asisat Oshoala could not make it to the game due to visa problems, but Courtney Dike, Ini Umotong and Sophia Omotola Omidiji were in the team. The Falcons lost 8-0 to France.
In June the Falcons played two AWCON qualifying matches against the Gambia. Nigeria defeated Gambia 0-1 away and won 6-0 in Lagos to qualify for the AWCON.
The future The matches against France and the Gambia were the only proper matches that the Super Falcons (the full team) played in almost two years.
The Super Falcons have now qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup which will hold in France in June and July 2019. The question is, will the NFF abandon the Falcons in order to concentrate on the Super Eagles’ quest to win the 2019 Nations Cup? Will the NFF organise quality friendly matches for the Falcons, or will they wait till 3 weeks before the World Cup to organise “friendly matches” against local Under 17 boys’ teams? What are the NFF’s plans for the Falcons ahead of the World Cup? The South Africans have already arranged a friendly match against Sweden for January 2019, when will the Falcons play friendlies? Bafana Bafana’s quest to play at the AFCON has not affected Banyana Banyana’s programmes, will the Eagles’ campaign at the AFCON affect the Falcons?
Friendlies are very important because they help the players to understand each other better, they help the coach to ensure that the players understand the way he wants them to play, they help the NFF and the fans to assess the performance of the coach and they help everybody to assess the performance of the players. Will we play quality friendlies before the World Cup?
Nigeria met South Africa in the semi-final of the 2016 AWCON in Cameroon on November 29th and their paths since then could not have been more different. While Banyana Banyana has been very active and has improved considerably, the Super Falcons have been in the wilderness and have declined.
Sponsorship Change began for South Africa in 2009 when energy giant Sasol signed on to sponsor Banyana Banyana and the South African Women’s Football League. Since then the company has pumped a lot of money into the development of women’s football in South Africa.
[img]http://naijachronicles.files./2018/11/banyana-13.jpg?w=584[/img] Banyana Banyana and the South African Women’s League are sponsored by South African energy giant, Sasol. The South Africans had two main goals, (1) to qualify for the World Cup and (2) to beat Nigeria.
The four dominant teams in African women’s football are Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa and the South Africans are the one of the four that has never qualified for the World Cup until now. Sponsorship from Sasol meant that the South African FA (SAFA) could hire a Dutch coach, Vera Pauw, in 2014 and she led Banyana Banyana to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Vera Pauw retired after the Olympics and SAFA hired former Banyana Banyana player, Desiree Ellis in 2016.
South Africa also played AWCON qualifying matches against Lesotho in June 2018. They won 0-1 away at Lesotho and 6-0 at home to qualify for the AWCON.
South Africa hosted the COSAFA Women’s Championship in September 2018. The tournament featured Southern African teams, with Uganda and Cameroon taking part as guests. Banyana Banyana defeated Madagascar, Botswana and Malawi in the group stage and defeated Uganda in the semi-final. They defeated Cameroon 2-1 in the final to lift the cup.
Banyana Banyana captain, Janine Van Wyk, sacrificed her career with the Houston Dash to return to South Africa and play in the COSAFA Championship. She had played for Banyana for a long time and her last remaining goal was to help the team to qualify for the World Cup. She was prepared to do everything to ensure that Banyana Banyana qualified for the World Cup. She won her 150th cap with Banyana Banyana at the COSAFA Championship. She is now the most capped South African player ever (man or woman).
Banyana Banyana played two matches against Chile in Chile in October. The lost 2-1 in the first game on October 6th and drew 2-2 in the second game on October 10th.
There are two advantages that Nigeria has always had over other African countries; (1) Nigeria has had a women’s league since 1990 and the league has been running continuously since then, which means that the players have been active (2) Nigerian female players have played in clubs all over the world (Europe, China, the US, Australia, etc.) and have thus gained a lot of experience. The South Africans were determined to narrow this gap.
Sasol’s sponsorship of the league has ensured that South African women’s football clubs have had more money to invest in youth development, better training facilities and it has also ensured that the league has been running continuously.
South Africa’s very experienced captain, Janine Van Wyk, moved to Houston Dash in the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2017 and South Africa’s former coach, Vera Pauw, became coach of the club soon afterwards. It was therefore no surprise that fellow South Africans, Thembi Kgatlana and Linda Mothlalo were signed by Houston in 2018.
These three players, Thembi Kgatlana, Janine Van Wyk and Linda Mothlalo have played a huge role in South Africa’s success at this Nations Cup and I believe that their performance has improved partly because of the experience they’ve gained by playing in the NWSL, which is one of the best leagues in the world.
Janine Van Wyk sacrificed her career at Houston to return home to help Bnayana Banyana prepare properly for the Nations Cup. She believed that this was her last chance to play at the World Cup and she was determined to do everything possible to ensure that South Africa qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever.
South Africa has achieved their two objectives at this Nations Cup. They have qualified for the World Cup and they have beaten Nigeria.
We know the preparation was bad and it never can happen to the male nation team but kudos to you guys for always bringing smile to our faces. I hope the way south Africa female national team has grown will make the NFF to wake up to their responsibilities in terms of female football. On a lighter Asisat that is not an excuse for you to miss that penalty.
This girls won this tournament based on their individual determination, Imagine is they had prepared well like the south africans. they would have easily brush aside cameroun and S.A as usual. But funny enough other countries are working tirelessly over night, playing quality friendlies just becoz they want to win the Afcon and end Nigeria's continued dominance In Africa. I just plead with Nigerians and The gov't to give this girls the much deserve attention and watch them spring surprises at the world stage
Which area dey work for Nigeria sef? I recently read how a Tunisian club planned for five years to win Caf champions league.. Planning is the key to success..
Thunder fire our leaders o.. Especially the politicians..
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Mr. Picnic or Pinnick (the chairman of NFF) is only after money
The female game doesn't have much sponsors in Nigeria, so no money to loot
We use to have a sort of football factory that produced great female players right from the under 17 level up to the senior national team, but I don't think we qualified for the current under 17 world cup
Success has many brothers and failure is an orphan. I can imagine NFF officials jumping up and down like headless chickens celebrating the super falcons when its obvious they contributed Nothing. Trying to reap where we did not sow is the zing thing in Nigeria.
naptu2: Asisat Oshoala speaks on bad preparations and how it almost cost Nigeria a 9th AWCON title on Saturday
Ghanaian journalist Akosua Addai Amoo asked Asisat Oshoala about the importance of proper preparation and this was her reply:
Of course it’s very important. It’s one of the things that actually affected us in this tournament. You could see a lot of countries that we could beat normally, like South Africa, I don’t think that they have a team that can actually stand the Super Falcons if we actually prepared very well, if we played series of games before the tournament.
But, I mean, with bad preparation, I mean, we were still able to retain the trophy. It just shows the team spirit, the hunger from the girls and how much the team wanted to succeed, even without (proper preparation).
Please lady do not talk about the importance of proper preparation because brothers on Nairaland have stated you do not need such preparation as a professional who plies her trade in China.
