By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
It promises to be a big battle as Nigeria’s Super Falcons and Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon settle old scores in the on-going CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON ) quarter final match billed for Thursday at Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.
To qualify for this round, Cameroon had to wait for their last match against Tunisia which they won 2-0 to book their passage with five points. Cameroon had earlier played out 0-0 and 1-1 draws against Zambia and Togo.
Nigeria on the other hand, suffered a 2-1 loss to South Africa in the opening match but bounced back forcefully to beat Botswana 2-0 and thrashed Burundi 4-0 to garner six points which guaranteed the defending champions the quarter final spot and a direct confrontation with arch-rivals, Cameroon at this stage of the competition.
It therefore means that this clash of two neighbouring countries who have met several times at the crucial stage of African football competitions at any level promises to be a tough game for the two sides.
On paper, Nigeria has an edge over Cameroon, dating back to 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup African qualifiers final round which saw the Super Falcons beat Indomitable Lionesses 2-0 in Lagos and 4-0 in Yaounde to qualify on 6-0 aggregate score to represent Africa in the maiden FIFA tournament in China.
Super Falcons’ all-conquering ‘First Generation’ team paraded sleeky forward Rita Nwadike and gangling Okunwa Igunbor; dazzling midfielder Nkiru Okosieme; fleetfooted right-winger, Louisa Akpagu; gangling attacker Okunwa Igunbor; defence stalwart and captain, Florence Omagbemi and reliable goalkeeper Ann Agumanu-Chiejine among other good players.
Also, since the introduction of WAFCON formerly known as Africa Women’s Championship (AWC) in 1998 by CAF, Nigeria has always defeated Cameroon at crucial stages by successive generations of Super Falcons team.
Prompt News can confirm that Super Falcons have only lost to Cameroon twice in history in as many meetings with the first time being a 1-0 loss to the Indomitable Lionesses in a 3rd Place Match of 2012 WAFCON in Equitorial Guinea, the only time Nigeria finished 4th on the log in 11 editions of the competition.
The second time Cameroon edged Nigeria was in 2012 London Olympics African qualifiers final round return leg tie in Yaounde in October 2011 which was decided on penalty shoot-out under the darkness as the floodlights were intentionally not switched on by the Cameroon authorities.
However, Cameroon’s Lionesses have suffered humiliating defeats many times in the hands of Nigeria’s Super Falcons, namely four times in the final of WAFCON; three in semi final and others in the group stage.
Worthy of mention was Nigeria’s 5-0 thrashing of Cameroon in the 2004 WAFCON final match in South Africa thanks to quadruple goals scored by Nigeria’s Best Women’s Footballer ever, Perpetua Nkwocha
who scored in the 15′, 35′, 42′ and 60′ of the game. Vera Okolo added one goal in the 83′.
Nigeria had earlier played out a 2 2 draw with Cameroon in Group B with Nkwocha (10′) and Cynthia Uwak (69′) scoring for Super Falcons while Cameroon’s goals came from
Aondoa Mekongo (61′) and Mercille
Bella (74′) respectively.
The most recent Nigeria triumphs over Cameroon came in the final of 2016 WAFCON in Yaounde on December 3, 2016 when a late minute goal by Desire Oparanozie (84′) gifted Nigeria 1-0 victory over Cameroon on home soil.
Again, Nigeria beat Cameroon in 2018
WAFCON semi-final tie, although the Coach Thomas Dennerby-tutored Super Falcons had to progress to final via 4-2 penalty shoot-out. The match had ended 0-0 after regulation and extra times.
Despite the overwhelming advantage Nigeria has on the pitch over Cameroon, any match between both countries have always created much tension because of the football age-long rivalry between the two nations at any level of football.
This is even as the quarter final clash between the Super Falcons and Indomitable Lionnesses Thursday in Morocco has all the attractions of a big battle, because of the double portion of goodies embedded in the victory for any side.
At stake in this winner takes all match are the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand ticket and WAFCON 2022 semi final spot, a situation which will ginger both teams to go for a kill.
For Cameroon, this is the time to avenge the many defeats they have suffered in the hands of Nigeria and Indomitable Lionesses captain, Ajara Nchout Njoya, who scored her team’s second goal in their 2-0 win over Tunisia at Mohammed V Complex in Casablanca on Saturday, has said that they will play the game of their lives against Super Falcons on Thursday.
The Lionesses will be banking on Njoya’s experience and scoring ability to pull the chestnut out of fire against the Super Falcons, who have gotten back their mojo after losing 2-1 to South Africa in their Group C opener, scoring six goals and conceding none against Botswana and Burundi.
Njoya boasts vast experience from playing for a slew of clubs at home and abroad. She began her professional career in 2007 with local club Franck Rollycek de Douala and played there until 2010 when she moved on to play for FC Energy Voronezh, WFC Rossiyanka, AS Police de Yaoundé.
The versatile player has also starred for
Western New York Flash, USA;
Sundsvalls, IL Sandviken, Sweden; Vålerenga and Atlético Madrid, Spain and currently playing club football in Inter Milan, Italy.
Quarter Final Matches
Thursday 14/07/2022
Cameroon v Nigeria
South Africa v Tunisia.
