By Victor Kanayo
A delegation of Cape Verde’s senior girls comprising of players and officials are already in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, ahead of their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier scheduled for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
Heritage Times HT reports that shortly after their arrival, the team will have an official training at the pitch on Wednesday, 24 hours to the match against Nigeria’s Super Falcons.
Thursday’s encounter will begin at 4pm, Nigerian time.
Super Falcons Update
For the Super Falcons, a total of 20 of the 21 invited players were at the team’s camp on Tuesday morning.
Nine-time champions Nigeria reached this final stage of the qualification series following the withdrawal of Sao Tome’s senior girls from a second-round fixture in September.
The 13th edition of Africa’s flagship women football championship will be staged in Morocco in July next year.
Pre-match Comment
Ahead of the encounter with their Cape Verde counterpart, stand-in Super Falcons Coach Justin Madugu is of the opinion that Nigerian squad have what it takes to triumph.
“We are without a few regular players for various reasons but we are not here to dwell on that. The Super Falcons’ team remains the Super Falcons anytime, any day and anywhere. We have players in camp who will do justice to the badge and get us the qualification ticket to the WAFCON.
“Surely, we would have wanted a couple more days for the team to train together, but the fixture is the fixture and the window is the window, and we just have to make do with what we have and get the best out of the arrangement. Everyone in camp will play their part for the Super Falcons to qualify for Morocco 2024,” he said.
