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.
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?
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.
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).
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.
The reason for this confusion is very simple. The first two editions (1991 and 1995) were played in a home and away format and the winner qualified for the World Cup.
It was only in 1998 that the present format (a Nations Cup/World Cup type of format) was used. There was a single host nation (Nigeria) and it mirrored the men's Cup of Nations.
Some people do not consider the first two editions as part of the AWCON championship. They see it as world cup qualifiers.
Nigeria has won it 9 times in the present format and 11 times overall.
Cameroon's public broadcaster, CRTV is dropping hints that CAF will take away the hosting rights to the 2019 AFCON from Cameroon. The speculation is overshadowing Cameroon's 3rd place match against Mali at the AWCON.
The Confederation of African Football has released the names of nominees for its 2018 awards. The award ceremony will take place in Senegal on January 8th, 2019.
Courtney Dike is part of two sets of brother and sister combinations that have played for the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons.
1) Ndubuisi Okosieme played for the Super Eagles in the late 1980s and his sister, Nkiru Okosieme played for the Super Falcons in the 1990s and early 2000s.
2) Bright Dike played for Nigeria in the early 2010s and Courtney Dike has been playing for Nigeria since 2014.
First picture below: Courtney and Bright Dike.
2) Bright Dike
3) Courtney Dike
4) Courtney Dike and Francisca Ordega travelling to Le Mans together to play for the Super Falcons against France last year
There is a question that many football fans have been asking in the past one month; ”Where is Courtney Dike?”
Courtney Dike played for Nigeria at the 2014 Under 20 Women’s World Cup. The Falconets came second in the competition.
She made headlines when she declined the cash reward that the Federal Government gave to the players. She was playing for Oklahoma State University (Cowgirls) at the time and the rules of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in America prohibit athletes that are playing in the NCAA leagues from receiving cash rewards for taking part in sports competitions.
Courtney also played for Nigeria at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, then it seemed like she just disappeared. She was not part of the Super Falcons team that won the 2016 AWCON. She resurfaced last year to play for Nigeria in a friendly match against France, then she disappeared again.
She was invited by Coach Dennerby to be a part of the Super Falcons team at the 2018 AWCON, but she never showed up at the camp and no reason was given for her absence.
I was also wondering what’s happening to her because I expected her to play in the National Women’s Soccer League after graduating from Oklahoma State University, but I didn’t hear any news of her signing for any club.
Well, here’s the answer. She is now a Certified Public Accountant. She was probably working to qualify for her CPA license and that’s probably why she couldn’t make it to camp.
OKUCHI11: op... credit.. to you.... you have just spurred a research topic in me... which is "social mobility and work life among married female sports women "
Then my next thread will probably be very useful to you. It is about a Super Falcon that could not make it to this AWCON because of her career.
Asisat Oshoala & Gaelle Enganamouit - two good friends
Asisat Oshoala is the 2014, 2016 and 2017 African Women's Player of the Year, while Gaelle Deborah Enganamouit is the 2015 African Player of the Year. Both players moved from Europe to Dalian Quanjian FC in the Chinese Women's Super League in 2017.
However, while Oshoala has been successful in China, Enganamouit did not have such an easy time there. Enganamouit suffered a season ending injury at the beginning of the 2016 season and many people believe that Cameroon rushed her back to their starting 11 when she had not totally recovered. Cameroon hosted the 2016 Nations Cup and they were determined to win the competition, so they desperately needed their star striker. Enganamouit was a shadow of herself at the competition and she did not score a single goal. She also suffered from injury worries at Dalian and had to return to Europe for the 2018 season, where she has finally regained her scoring form.
The Lioness of Cameroon, Gaelle Deborah Enganamouit was the 2015 African Women's Player of the Year. She was also the highest goal scorer in the Swedish league in 2015. She is reputed to have scored the fastest goal in women's football history when she scored a goal just 2 seconds into a match in the Serbian League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1wIRtdNPE0 Gaelle Enganamouit of Cameroon scores one of the fastest goals in women football after just 3 seconds. She was playing for Spartak Subotica against Pozarevac in the Serbian League in 2012.
She suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the first game of the 2016 Swedish league season that ruled her out for the rest of the season.
However, Cameroon hosted the 2016 AWCON and they were desperate to get their star striker fit for the tournament. Many people believe that the Cameroonians featured her before she was back to full fitness and she was a shadow of herself. She didn't score a single goal, but she was the perfect decoy for Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene as she always drew defenders away from Aboudi Onguene.
She moved to Norway in 2018 where she finally found her scoring form again. She scored in Cameroon's 3-0 victory over Algeria in the group stage of this Nations Cup.
Enganamouit was one of the stars of the 2015 World Cup in Canada, scoring a hat trick in the 6-0 demolition of Ecuador. Canadians nicknamed her the "Freight Train" due to her power and pace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPdY_CchYH4 Hat trick by Gaelle Enganamouit and a goal each by Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene, Christine Manie and Ngono Mani as Cameroon defeated Ecuador 6-0 at the 2015 Women's World Cup.
The home of Cameroon forward Gaelle Enganamouit was vandalised in Yaounde following her penalty miss against Nigeria in the semi-finals of the 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.
Nigeria's Super Falcons won the shoot-out 4-2 to book their place in Saturday's final and guarantee a spot at next year's World Cup in France.
According to Cameroon's head coach, Joseph Ndoko, relatives of Enganamouit claim people threw rocks at the family residence and then threatened to return.
Cameroon face Mali on Friday in Cape Coast in the third place play-off match where the winners will also secure a place at France 2019.
Ndoko, speaking ahead of Friday's match, condemned the attack and said it may have an impact on the team's preparation for the Mali contest.
"It is a very unpatriotic and outrageous act that some persons will attack Gaelle's home because of the penalty miss," said Ndoko.
"It is football and things like this happen. It could've gone either way but I hope people still remember all the good times and realise that these players are fighting for the honour of an entire country.
"What they need is support and encouragement, not such shameful behaviour."
26-year-old Gaelle Enganamouit has played in all four of Cameroon's outings at the 2018 Nations Cup, scoring a goal against Algeria in their second group game.
Ndoko says the player was not immediately aware of what the reaction back home had been like.
"In the team, we take away the phones of the players to make sure they don't read the negative press about them.
"Obviously she will be wondering if her mother or siblings are alright. This is just very annoying and isn't the right way to prepare for such an important game."
Norway-based Cameroon forward Nchout Njoya Ajara, said the whole squad has been saddened by the events.
"It is traumatising when you read that the people you're fighting for can't forgive you for a mistake. It is pathetic and things like this can make you think twice when you're called up to the national team.
"We choose to fight for our country, to make our compatriots proud but when such things happen, we start doubting if we made the right choice.
"Everyone is saddened by the loss to Nigeria but we still have a chance to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. If we can beat Mali we will be in the global tournament for the second time and that is very important," Ajara said.
It is a miracle that the Super Falcons of Nigeria have qualified for the 2018 AWCON 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.
Despite the honours the Super Falcons have won for Nigeria, why are they still disrespected? igeria won the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) for the 8th time after a 1–0 win over Cameroun in Yaounde. The winning goal was scored by Desire Oparanozie for Nigeria to retain the trophy they won in Namibia two years ago. This is the third time Nigeria is defeating Cameroun in the history of the AWCON competition, the Lionesses lost the AWCON title to Nigeria in the 2004 edition when lost 5 – 0, then in the 2014 edition, Nigeria beat Cameroun 2 – 0 courtesy of goals from Asisat Oshoala and Desire Oparanozie.
Nigeria won AWCON the title in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014 but lost two editions of the competitions to Equatorial Guinea in 2008 and 2012. The Super Falcons have shown dedication over the years by qualifying for every tournament. They have won the tournament back to back by staying consistent, a feat which has been arduous for the Super Eagles. But the Super Falcons are still underappreciated and often disrespected compared to their male counterparts.
The Super Falcons returned to the country on Sunday after their victory but not without allegations of shoddy treatment by the Nigeria Football Federation. NFF officials and sports minister, Solomon Dalung, reportedly travelled on a chartered flight to Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon where the Super Falcons played their final match against the tournament hosts. The football officials and the sports minister allegedly left the stadium for the airport without meeting with the victorious Nigerian team. According to sports journalist, Jessica Amadi, who was with the team, while the Super Falcons were made to travel to Douala by road, the administrators left on a chartered flight. The journalist on Sunday stated that flight arrangements were later made for the team.
The African champions who flew to Douala for a connecting trip to Nigeria, however, had to travel without their bags due to the size of the Camair-co plane used in conveying the team. The team’s luggage were therefore transported to Douala by road. Amadi, in a series of posts on her Twitter page, reported that the Nigerian High Commission in Cameroon expressed its disappointment with the manner the NFF officials conducted themselves.
But this has been the narrative for over a decade, former Nigerian star, Vera Okolo also spilled the beans about the dismal way the Super Falcons were treated by the NFF at the 2004 African Women’s Championship in South Africa. She spoke about her displeasure at the welfare of the players while on duty for their country. The former African Women Footballer of the Year nominee lamented how the Nigerian Football Federation abandoned the team in terms of match bonuses and feeding. She explained how the team overcame these challenges with help of Nigerians in South Africa.
The Super Falcons have won the Women’s Africa Nations Cup more than any other country and made it to every Women’s World Cup since the FIFA competition began in 1991. Despite the honours the women’s team has won for the nation, they are still being treated as second-class citizens compared to their male counterparts who failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations kicking off in Gabon at the start of 2017 and have failed to qualify for two consecutive editions. News reports stated that the Falcons were paid a paltry 10,000 naira each after they successfully booked a ticket to the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations which is in contrast with the men’s team, whose players get paid 800,000 naira each for a draw and 1 million naira for a win. The women are also reportedly still owed their bonuses for qualifying for last year’s World Cup in Canada. The women received 100,000 naira for every match won at the World Cup, while the men got 760, 000 naira. And while the male team was lodged in five-star hotels, the women’s team was regularly kept in substandard accommodation, said Nnamdi Okosieme. But this scenario is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. The USA women’s national team stepped up its case for equal pay during a segment of CBS’s 60 Minutes, landing a spot on the traditional post-NFL Sunday show and claiming that women deserve to be paid not just the same as the men, but more.
For a long time now, the Super Falcons have been playing for peanuts and the poor treatment of the women’s football team by the NFF is another symptom of the rot of gender inequality that has eaten into many sectors of society. The Super Falcons deserve to be given as much respect and appreciation as their male counterparts, and it is high time Nigeria started celebrating her football heroines.
Sports › Re: Oshoala Speaks On Bad Preparations And How It Almost Cost Nigeria A 9th AWCON by naptu2(op): 6:08pm On Dec 02, 2018
