By John Essien
Former Super Falcons’ Captain Desire Oparanozie has been ruled out of the upcoming Africa Women Cup of Nations, AWCON in Morocco.
The 28-year-old goal poacher who recently moved to the Chinese Women’s Super League side, Wuhan Jianghan University, released a statement on why she won’t be part of the Squad.
“Due to issues bothering on boarder restrictions, which is beyond my control. I am officially unavailable to serve.
“Which explains my replacement. I wish the team all the best in Morocco as I will be cheering from here,” She tweeted.
Oparanozie has participated in four AWCON tournaments. She was part of the Nigerian squads of the African Women’s Championship of 2010 and 2014, 2016 and 2018, winning all four tournaments. She scored crucial goals in both the 2014 and 2016 finals.
Super Falcons’ will be squaring up against South Africa, Botswana and Burundi in Group C of the in biennial African football showpiece.
Botswana and Burundi are both making their debut in the continental showpiece.
Nigeria will begin their title defence against South Africa at the Prince Heritier Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat on Monday, July 4.
The Falcons’ who has won nine of the 11 Africa Women Cup of Nations championships held so far, defeated Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the qualifying series.
