Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League, Ms Aisha Falode has commended the home –based professionals in the present Super Falcons’ team, which is in Ghana defending the Women Africa Cup of Nations title.
“I have often said that the league is the engine room of every National Team, whether male or female. Out of 21 players here, we have six home –based professionals. I believe there should have been more, but then the ones here have been giving a good account of themselves.”
The NFF Executive Committee member noted that all the matches at the championship are crucial, and that the Super Falcons will always be a strong contender for World Cup ticket having never failed to qualify for the global championship.
“Every match is crucial; we are here as African champions. We not only want to qualify for the World Cup; we want to be a strong contender for the Women’s World Cup trophy come France 2019.
“The first match was somewhat demoralizing. It was not the result that we expected. It was as shocking as it was stunning to all Nigerians, including the players. They were not happy with the performance, but as true champions that they are, they put it behind them, went into the next game against Zambia and won handsomely to re-build their confidence.
“We always believe in the Super Falcons to get us result. We always believe that they are not only strong mentally, they are strong as individuals and as a unit. We are now on the right track. They girls are motivated, they are concentrating. They have been given everything they need to perform and excel. They have been paid their bonuses and allowances. Every game is important until we lift the trophy back to Nigeria and secure our ticket to World Cup.”
The NFF chieftain harped on the need for more players from the domestic League to be considered for the National Teams. “I think we should have had more home –based professionals in the team. The Technical Department of the NFF needs to do more, by visiting the league venues when the league is on in order to discover more players who can give the overseas –based professionals a good run for their money for shirts in the Super Falcons.
“We must re-evaluate our dependence on foreign players and begin to look at the reservoir of players in our domestic league to give us quality representation because truly and honestly, we will be doing our young players a good turn if we do that. They should be given the opportunity to express themselves and also attract the global attention”.
