FIFA
U-20 Women's qualifier
TOTAL WAR!
Nigeria women Under-20
Photo: Sun News Publishing
By EMMA NJOKU
Saturday, May 13, 2006
There would be no hiding place for the Liberian Under-20 women
national team when they meet the Falconets this weekend.
Both teams clash at the Abuja National Stadium in the return leg of
the third round fixture of the African qualifiers for the FIFA
Under-20 Women’s World Championship (WWC) billed for Russia later in
the year.
The Liberian girls stunned bookmakers a fortnight ago, when they
held their highly rated Nigerian counterparts to a barren score line
in Monrovia.
As if that was not enough, the girls from the war-ravaged West
African nation have vowed to terminate Falconets’ dream of a third
consecutive appearance at the FIFA Under-20 WWC by beating them
right in front of their home fans at the Abuja ultra-modern stadium.
Falconets were Africa’s sole flagbearers at the inaugural edition of
the championship in Canada in 2002, a feat the Nigerian team
repeated two years latter in Thailand. With Africa’s slot at the
championship increased to two, the Coach Emmanuel Tetteh Okonkwo
team look to grab one of the tickets to make history with a third
consecutive appearance.
Head Coach, Emmanuel Tetteh, admitted that his girls underrated the
Liberians in the first leg encounter and almost paid dearly for it.
However, the former NPA Seasiders of Lagos tactician has assured
that his wards would be instructed to shoot at sight as soon as the
centre referee for this weekend’s decisive return leg signals for
the commencement of hostilities against the Liberians at the Abuja
National Stadium.
“My girls underrated the Liberian girls in Monrovia and almost paid
for it. But it is going to be a different ballgame in the return
leg. We are not going to take any chances this time around. The
Liberians must surely surrender,” Tetteh assured, adding, “nothing
can stop Nigeria from going to the WWC for the third consecutive
time in the history of the tournament.
“I have instructed my girls to fire from all cylinders. We are going
to fight with all the weapons in our armory to ensure we stop the
ambitious Liberians from achieving their dream. We are not in the
same class with them when it comes to the game of football. We shall
prove to them why Nigeria is the best in female football in Africa,”
Tetteh boasted.
To get to this stage, the Liberians earned an easy passage to the
second round without kicking the ball, following the withdrawal of
their Guinean opponents in the preliminary round. They went ahead to
shock their Algerian counterparts in Algiers 3–2 in the first leg of
their second round fixture. The Algerians failed to honour the
return leg billed for Monrovia, thereby giving the Liberians an
automatic move to the third round, where they are faced with the
arduous task of scaling through the Falconets’ hurdle if they must
realise their dream of debuting at the FIFA-organised championship.
The Falconets, on the other hand, drew bye in the preliminary round
of the African qualifiers before crushing Harambee Queens of Kenya
on 10–1 aggregate score line after the two legged fixtures. The
Nigerian girls whitewashed the Kenyans 8–0 in the first leg
encounter played at the Gateway Stadium in Ijebu-Ode, while the
return leg ended 2–1 in Nairobi, also in favour of the Falconets.
Winners of today’s game automatically qualify for the FIFA Under-20
WWC billed for Russia, although they would still have to play
against the eventual winners of the fixture between South Africa and
Congo DR to determine the champions of Africa in the Under-20
women’s category.
Expectedly, Coach Tetteh would rely on the vast experiences of Faith
Ikedi, Cynthia Uwak, Otasowie Ezemo and Akudo Iwuagwu to overcome
the ambitious Liberians.
To underscore the crucial nature of today’s encounter, Tetteh had to
recall team captain, Akudo Sabi from Finland to ensure that the
Liberians do no spoil the Russia party for him and his girls. The
hard working captain was not in the Falconet’s line up in the first
leg, which ended 1–1 in Monrovia a fortnight ago.
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