The Chief Coach of the Super Falcons, Florence Omagbemi has expressed joy at being handed the job, as well as the persons that have been appointed as her assistants.
There have been insinuations that her absence from the team was because she wanted to be named as the permanent coach and not the interim coach.
Omagbemi, a FIFA technical group analyst told thenff.com: “I am hearing this for the first time. It is like breaking news to me. I don’t know where the writer got the story from. I know that I was in touch with my other coaches and the Federation. They knew where I was; I took permission to be with the FIFA group.
“Right now, I am in camp. I worked alongside my other coaches with the girls on Monday morning. I’m very happy with what has been done in my absence with the team. I am 100% with the team and I am happy with everything that’s going on.”
Omagbemi debunked the story of not being happy with the assistants assigned to work with her. “I am happy with my assistants. These are my people. We are one family here in camp. Ann Chiejine and Perpetua Nkwocha, we all played together for years and we are just like sisters. We are happy to work together now.
“When I first heard the news, I was so excited because I believe this is the time to come and give back. We fought battles on the field for Nigeria, now is when to do our job and be role models to the girls.”
Omagbemi featured in four different FIFA Women World Cup final competitions for Nigeria in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003.
She was a member of the golden generation of the the Super Falcons that reached the second round at USA 1999, where Nigeria narrowly lost the semifinal ticket to Brazil. She led the Falcons to win the African Women Championship title in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 and also led the team to participate at the Olympics for the first time, at Sydney 2000.
The former Super Falcons captain has coached American youth teams and previously served as the assistant coach to the Nigerian U-20 Women’s team, Falconets, at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan.
