In a repeat of the 2022 WAFCON’s third-place clash with the Copper Queens of Zambia, the Super Falcons will bank on experience and assemblage of foreign professionals to turn the tide against the Southern African side this evening in one of the quarter-finals of the on-going 2024 WAFCON in Morocco, writes TUNDE LIADI…

Nine-time champions Nigeria will slug it out with Women’s African Cup of Nations 2022 bronze Medallists, the Copper Queens of Zambia in one of the quarter final matches of the ongoing tournament in Morocco- in a repeat of the penultimate game of the last edition also played in the North African nation.

The Super Falcons have never failed to qualify for the WAFCON semi-finals ever since the competition became a tournament format in 1998 but they face a stern test to hold on to that record when they trade tackles with Zambia who were the last African opposition to beat them.

The Coach Justine Madugu-led Super Falcons has not really played to their potentialities since the competition started despite beating Carthage Lionesses of Tunisia 3-0 in their first group game. They needed a stoppage time goal to defeat Botswana in the second game but were held to a goalless draw by Algeria in the last group game.

Good attacking flair and purposeful playing pattern used to be the hallmark of the Super Falcons in the past but they have been far from their best this term en route to the quarter finals.

Coach Madugu didn’t mince words while expressing concerns over his team’s inability to score goals despite the armada of star strikers in their fold, adding he was surprised that the team could only score four goals in the group stage.

Ahead of this evening’s tie against Zambia, Madugu stated that his team’s wastefulness has become a concern to him while hoping that the problem would have been solved before this evening’s kick-off against the Copper Queens.

“Prior to this tournament we have been playing games and have scored goals in a lot of them,” Madugu told journalists. “In this tournament, goal scoring has become a challenge for us. We have to go back and address it. We have little time to work on that and it is an area that becomes a cause for concern and worry for us.

“The same players that were scoring goals before are still the same players playing and why we are not getting the goals is something we must try and look at and work on.”

He further admitted as he looks forward to the encounter against the ‘warring’ Zambians: “There is no room for errors,” insisting that the Falcons would be ready in all ramifications to face the Zambians.

“We must be 100% – psychologically, physically, tactically.”

Incidentally, Zambia has scored seven goals and conceded four on their way to the quarter-finals , with strikers Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji notching three apiece.

Banda hopes to emulate Zambia’s men, who won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 after a fairy-tale run.

“It would be a great moment for Zambia,” the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year told Newsday on the BBC World Service. “Remembering 2012, this year now it can be us, the ladies, so we are hoping for that and we are aiming for it as a team.”

However, Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie is unfazed by the threat posed by Banda and Kundananji.

“I’ve been watching them, trying to study them,” she Super Falcons star said.”As a goalkeeper, you need to expect anything. Trust me, I’m ready for them.”

Alluding to Nnadozie ‘s sentiments , Super Falcons defender, Ashley Plumptre has also expressed optimism that the team would be able to scale past the Zambian hurdle in the WAFCON 2024 quarter final fixture .

She admitted that the Falcons have been poor with the goal scoring opportunities they have created but reckoned that there would be some level of improvement against Zambia with their sights on keeping another clean sheet R the end of the game.

“Yes, we haven’t scored as many goals as we should but we are creating chances and I think we are understanding ourselves better having played three games and have been on rest for some days,” Plumptre who plies her trade in Saudi Arabia noted.

“We have a little time between now and the next game on the pitch to be able to work more before the game with Zambia. We know that Zambians have good attacking threats but we have to prepare for the Zambians as a whole team and not just a couple of individual players. We have to appreciate and respect their talents.

Ditto for Oluwatosin Demehin, another player who have been exceptional in Morocco having been involved in all Super Falcons’ three games and she disclosed that the Falcons remain the team to beat in Morocco.

“Zambians are not a tough team to me because we are the toughest team having not conceded any goal,” Demehin who graduated from the Falconets to the Super Falcons told journalists in Morocco. “Zambians have conceded four goals already. I know we are going to beat them.”

United States of America- based Ifeoma Onumonu is also talking tough ahead of today’s tie with Zambia revealing that they are up against a tough side.

Onumonu also predicts that the winner of the quarter final tie may go ahead to win the 2024 WAFCON.

“We unfortunately lost to them in the third place game of the last WAFCON after our unfortunate defeat to Morocco in the semi-final,” she disclosed. “It is going to be a very hard game. But I believe the winner of this game would go ahead to win the tournament.”

Meanwhile, former Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) Chairperson, Aisha Falode, has also urged the Super Falcons to put in their best as they take on Zambia in the quarter final encounter today.

“The only thing that will stand in the way of the Super Falcons is the Super Falcons themselves. They have to understand that the mission is not just a slogan it is a call to duty. A call for you to answer,” Falode said. “Now is the time to reclaim and to re-stamp our authority on the continent. It was a mirage the last time and now you want to make it a reality.

“They should understand that there is a mixture of new players who are hungry and want to experience what it means to lift the trophy. The last time we won it was in 2018 and it used to be a tradition to us.

“It is good in a way to show that women’s football on the continent is not static it is developing, moving and growing. We have to go back to the front to dictate again. We cannot lead from behind and it is achievable,” she added.