***One Flop Too Many
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, ABUJA BUREAU
In the words of an American author Karen M. McManus, “Things ‘ll get worse before they get better”. This clichè is reflective of the sad reality of the recent poor run of Nigeria’s senior women’s football team and and the U-20 women’s football outfit in the 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Football Tournament and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup final in France and Colombia respectively.
Prompt News notes that both teams have been on the losing side in the above-mentioned mentioned two global football competitions in 2024 despite the high expectations of Nigeria’s ardent women’s football followers in particular and sports loving citizens in general.
Firstly, the 11-time African champions, Super Falcons were eliminated from the 2024 Paris Olympics following a 3-1 defeat to the Nadeshiko of Japan in their final Group C match at La Beaujoire Stadium, Nantes, on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.
This loss marked Nigeria’s third consecutive defeat in the tournament as the team also lost their earlier two games by a lone goal each to Brazil and Spain under the guidance of expatriate coach Randy Waldrum who recently claimed to have resigned his appointment with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Waldrum’s Falcons finished at the bottom of their group, having conceded five goals and scored just one, ending their campaign with zero points to sum up Nigeria’s poor performance in the last Olympic Games.
During his four years reign as coach of Falcons, Waldrum’s scorecard as at Friday, September 13, 2024 when he purportedly resigned as Super Falcons coach showed that his team played a total of 27 Grade A international matches, won nine, drawn seven and lost 11, a record many Nigerians view as very poor.
Falcons’ fourth-place finish in the last Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco three years ago; elimination in the Round of 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand; elimination in the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the Falconets’ exit in the knock-out phase of the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia are clear indications of a great slump by the two national women’s teams that have performed creditably well in the FIFA competitions and Olympic Games.
For example, the Falcons of Nigeria under the tutelage of late ex-head coach Ismaila Mabo in 1999 in United States of America (USA) narrowly missed reaching the Semi-final stage after the now abolished FIFA “Golden Goal” helped Brazil beat Nigeria in the epic quarter-final tie at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Los Angeles.
The ‘Golden Generation’ of Super Falcons consisting of captain Florence Omagbemi, vice captain Nkiru Okosieme, agile goalkeeper Ann Agumanu-Chiejine, strikers- Mercy Akide, Patience Avre, Rita Nwadike, Stella Mbachu and Nkechi Egbe and defenders-Eberechi Oparaku, Gloria Usieta, Marvis Ogun, Yinka Kudaisi, Adanna Nwaneri, Prisca Emeafu and Kikelomo Ajayi.
Also, reserve goalkeeper Judith Chime, midfielders- Maureen Mmadu, Florence Iweta, Martha Tarhemba and late Ifeanyi Chiejine, held the world spellbound by coming back from losing 0-3 to drawing Brazil 3-3 at full-time only to be undone by FIFA’s now abandoned “Golden Goal” rule which stopped Nigeria from making it to the semi-finals.
On the scoresheet that fateful day were Prisca Emeafu, Nkiru Okosieme and Nkechi Egbe who tied the scores at 3-3 although the Falcons would later bow out of the competition following a “Golden Goal” scored by the Brazillians in the 104th minute courtesy of star player Sisi’s free-kick at the edge of the Nigeria’s box to ended it at 4-3.
In that tournament, the Super Falcons secured a 2-1 win over North Korea at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in their opening game, legendary forward Mercy Akide and Rita Nwadike on the scoresheet to secure a first FIFA Women’s World Cup win.
Although Nigeria had in the second match fell 1-7 to host nation USA in a game the Falcons drew first blood through Nkiru Okosieme in the 2nd minute before the Americans turned on the heat, Mabo’s and the girls will recover from the loss to secure a 2-0 win over Denmark at the Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington DC, to claim second spot in group B and reach the quarter finals.
Regrettably, 24-years later, that feat remains the highest for Nigeria’s Super Falcons at the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals as no other coach has been able to lead the team to quarter-final stage since 1999.
The closest Falcons have come to the 1999 feat in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final was in 2019 in France under former coach Thomas Dennerby who led Nigeria to the Round of 16 before crashing out of the competition, the same fate which befell the Falcons in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand while the three defeats in three matches in the 2024 Paris Olympics summed up the low level Nigeria has dropped in women’s football both in Africa and globally.
LIKE FALCONS, LIKE FALCONETS
If the performances of Super Falcons under Waldrum in four years can be described as absymal for not making a podium appearance at 2022 WAFCON, 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympic Games, the Falconets quarter-final exit in the 2024 edition in Colombia calls for a great concern.
Two-time silver medallists of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, the Falconets like the country’s senior women’s team, Super Falcons were eliminated by the Nadeshiko of Japan in the round of 16 match of the 2024 edition on Thursday, September 12 (early Friday in Nigeria) at Bogota’s 10,000-seat Estadio Metropolitano de Tech, Colombia.
Nigeria fell 1-2 to Japan in the quarter-final tie in the Round of 16 in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup finals in Colombia, ending the promising journey of the Falconets abruptly.
Interestingly, the Japanese Nadeshiko have become a bogey team for Nigeria’s women’s football teams with the elimination of Falcons and Falconets in both the Olympics and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup at the senior and junior categories within a month interval are clear indications of a slump by the two national women’s teams that have in the past performed creditably well in the FIFA competitions and Olympic Games.
This is even as Falconets head coach, Christopher Danjuma Musa’s team has never progressed beyond the second round of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with his wards crashing out in the round of 16 in the recent two editions in France in 2018 and Costa Rica in 2022.
The Nasarawa Amazons gaffer was in charge of Nigeria’s U-20 women’s side at the World Cup in 2018 when Spain beat struggling Nigeria 2–1 courtesy of goals by Aitana Bonmatí 13′ and Eva Guijarro 45+2′ as Peace Efih’s 57′ goal at Stade Guy Piriou, Concarneau. France could not save the African representatives.
The story was the same in Costa Rica in 2022, when the Falconets were knocked out following a 2-0 defeat by Netherlands in the quarter-finals after winning all three group matches but fell short in the knock-out stage.
Expectations of Nigerians prior to the start of Colombia 2024 were high that the Falconets will, at least, get to the final of this year’s tournament in view of the array of stars available to the coach but it was not be as Falconets wings were clipped in the match by the Nadeshiko.
Also, this was the third time Danjuma has disappointed even his staunch supporters at the global level and should be made to go on a sabbatical to allow for the appointment of coach with a fresh ideas on how best to lead the new set of Falconets to a podium finish in 2026 FIFAU-20 Women’s World Cup final.
Enough of “Danjumania” as his records in three World Cup appearances have been abysmal since August 2017 when he was appointed by NFF as Falconets head coach.
Danjuma, who has taken temporary charge of the Super Falcons on a couple of occasions also was full time coach of Falcons after the sack of Edwin Okon in June 2015 but was relieved of his duty after 2015 African Games, with Florence Omagbemi later occupying the vacant managerial role in February 2016.
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TIME FOR NEW COACHES FOR FALCONS, FALCONETS
NFF is expected to put a temporary halt to the obsession of Danjuma and consider the recall of coaches Ndem Egan Edat or Peter Dedevbo who both led the Falconets to the finals of FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany in 2010 and Canada in 2014, although the country lost to Germany on the two occasions by 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
However, the federation is also spoilt for choices even from among active Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) coaches who have themselves in the recent time by winning domestic and West African sub-regional women’s football titles.
Among the high-performing coaches the NFF should tap to manage the next Falconets are Moses Aduku who within two won the Nigerian women’s league trophy with Bayelsa Queens and Edo Queens respectively just as he recently led Edo Queens to win the WAFU-B Cup in Cotè d Ivoire and by the feat Edo Queens won the ticket to represent the zone in the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League later in the year and Wemimo Mathew, head coach of Remo Ladies FC.
Both Aduku and Wemimo have had stints with the Falconets at one time or another and can hold their own if picked to lead the U-20 women’s team by the NFF. The duo are known to be technically and tactically sound and have good noses for quality players.
In the case of Super Falcons, there is need for the federation to quickly announce a substantive head coach for Super Falcons as the new manager will need adequate time frame to rebuild the Super Falcons and prepare the team for the 2025 WAFCON billed for Morocco.
The reality on ground is the 11-time African champions can be said to have become one of the worst women’s football teams in the world and in the continent following the recent poor results including the loss of three group matches at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Primed to takeover the realms of leadership of Falcons are the Combo of Justin Madugu and Ann Agumanu-Chiejine who did a great job to steady the ship whenever the immediate past head coach (Waldrum) went on AWOL during his reign as Nigeria coach especially when the coaches led Nigeria to eliminate Ethiopia senior women’s team in the pre-Olympics African qualifiers double-header.
Armed with CAF A licenses, Nigeria Institute of Sports (NIS), UEFA and USSF coaching certificates as well as high education certification, Madugu and Chiejine have also been part of the coaching staff of Waldrum since 2020 till date.
Should the NFF opt for the appointment of an expatriate coach, Sweden-born Thomas Dennerby or Jòrgen Petersson, who was his assistant when Nigeria last won the WAFCON in Ghana in 2018 and also reached the Round of 16 of 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
Dennerby who led Sweden to finish 3rd at the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany, was the first foreign coach to lift the WAFCON trophy and also qualified Nigeria for a FIFA Women’s World Cup final. He also scouted and integrated most of the Nigeria’s U-17 and U-20 graduates into the Super Falcons in 2018 and 2019.
He integrated no fewer than nine home-based players to the senior women’s football team. They include the reigning African Best Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie; midfielder Rasheedat Ajibade and Christy Ucheibe; defenders Chidinma Okeke, Glory Ogbonna; forwards Anam Imo, Chinaza Uchendu, Uchenna Kanu and Chinwendu Ihezuo.
Dennerby who lived in Abuja permanently and also had his own office with desk at NFF Glass House in Wuse throughout his stay graciously took a total of six Nigeria-based players namely goalie Nnadozie, Ajibade, Ihezuo, Kanu, Imo, Okeke and Uchendu to the World Cup in France while he capped Ogbonna at 2018 WAFCON in Ghana .
Indeed, now is the right time to start the rebuilding of Super Falcons and Falconets for a better results in the next WAFCON and FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
This is the way to go if Nigeria wants to return to the winning ways.
