France 2018: Germany Pip Nigeria’s Hard–Fighting Falconets 1-0

Nigeria’s U20 girls, Falconets, battled hard but once more, were unable to break the German jinx as they lost 0-1 to the 2010 and 2014 champions in the opening game of Group D of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Saint Malo on Monday.

Stefanie Sanders was gifted acres of space in the six –yard area to slam into the net from a corner kick even after inspired goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie had made two consecutive saves.

The Falconets, runners-up in 2010 and 2014 and semi finalists in 2012, had their own opportunities to get on the scoresheet but Anam Imo and Peace Efih were somewhat unlucky.

Victory shot the Germans top of the Group D table ahead of the clash between Haiti and China.

The Falconets turned out in Nigeria’s new NIKE outfits and fought hard and confidently on the turf of Stade de Marville. Germany pushed hard and relentlessly in the opening half, but could find no breakthrough as a brilliant Nnadozie, with defenders Glory Ogbonna, Oluwakemi Famuditi and Sunday Opeyemi, kept things tight at the rear.

Nigeria should have levelled three minutes after the Germans shot ahead, but Peace Efih’s swerving shot rocked the upright with the goalkeeper stranded.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Her Excellency Modupe Irele, NFF President Amaju Pinnick, Hon. Ayo Omidiran, Yusuf Ahmed ‘Fresh’ and NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi with the Falconets in their dressing room immediately after Monday’s match in Saint Malo.

“The girls fought very hard and deserved at least a point from this match, but that is gone now and we have to look forward to Thursday. I believe the coaches have the ability to turn things around and ensure victory in the two remaining group phase matches,” Yusuf Ahmed Fresh, Chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, told thenff.com on phone from Saint Malo after the match.

Next up for the Falconets is an encounter with their Haitian counterparts, at the same venue on Thursday, before another potentially –explosive encounter with China in Dinan/Léhon on Monday next week.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Her Excellency Modupe Irele, NFF President Amaju Pinnick, Hon. Ayo Omidiran, Yusuf Ahmed ‘Fresh’ and NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi with the Falconets in their dressing room immediately after Monday’s match in Saint Malo.

France 2018: Pinnick, Omidiran, Sanusi To Cheer Falconets

Eminent world citizens, including the President of Nigeria Football Federation and 1st Vice President of the Confederation of African Football, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick, and ranking Member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, Hon. Ayo Omidiran will cheer Nigeria’s U20 girls, Falconets against their German counterparts in Saint Malo on Monday.

The occasion is the opening match of Group D of the 9th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals, which began on Sunday and holds in France’s Brittany region. In Sunday’s opening encounter, Mexico edged Brazil 3-2 in an interesting affair in Dinan/Léhon.

Pinnick, who at the weekend received a letter of congratulations from FIFA President Gianni Infantino on his nomination as 1st Vice President of CAF, flew into Paris on Sunday from the United Kingdom before making his way to Saint Malo.

Respected lawmaker Omidiran, an illustrious financier and ardent supporter of women’s football for several decades now, is a Member of the House of Reps’ Committee on Sports and Youth Development and Chairman of the NFF Women’s Football Committee.

The NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, is expected in Saint Malo on Monday, as the Nigerian girls get set to soar in a championship in which they have finished as runners-up on two occasions.

It is just as well that their first match of this year’s tournament is against perennial foes Germany, who edged the Falconets in the final matches of the 2010 and 2014 championships.

“It is a good thing we are meeting Germany in our first match. If you want to be a champion, you have to overcome strong forces on the way. We are starting the tournament knowing that there is no easy route to the top, and that we have to give our best in every minute of the competition,” Head Coach Chris Danjuma told thenff.com.

The Falconets delegation landed in France on Thursday, and trained on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, the team attended a FIFA Ethics Workshop. Their official training session for Monday’s clash with the Germans will hold at the Stade de Marville on Sunday afternoon.

Nigeria’s U20 girls the Falconets

Effervescent forward Gift Monday must play carefully in order to avoid a yellow card that could knock her out of Thursday’s clash with Haiti, having been cautioned in the Nigeria team’s final qualifying match against South Africa in Benin City early in the year.

However, the Falconets are loaded to the hilt with proven performers. Captain Oluwakemi Famuditi and Glory Ogbonna would be expected to keep things tight at the back, while Christy Ucheibe and Peace Efih would be saddled with the responsibility of pushing the ball upfront for the experienced and efficient Rasheedat Ajibade and the starry–eyed but clinical Anam Imo.

Nigeria take on Haiti at the same venue on Thursday, before closing the group D attrition with China at the Stade de Clos Gastel in Dinan/Lehon on Monday next week.

France 2018: Nigeria’s Falconets Arrive Tirol For Final Camping

The delegation of Nigeria’s U20 Women National Team, Falconets, has touched down in the Austrian city of Tirol for a final training camp ahead of the 9th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals taking place in France next month.

A contingent of 25 players and 11 officials, led by NFF’s Assistant Director (Technical), Siji Lagunju (a former Nigeria international) and including Head Coach Chris Danjuma and his assistants Wemimo Mathew, Mansur Abdullahi, Lateef Yusuf and Precious Dede, departed from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja aboard an Air France flight on Friday night, and transited through Paris and Munich before arriving in Tirol.

A final list of 21 players will emerge before the training camp comes to a close, with the four players that fail to make the final cut flying back to Nigeria.

Falconets training at the FIFA Goal Project, Abuja

Lagunju confirmed to thenff.com that the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup runners –up will spend 12 days in final training camp in Tirol, where they are lodged at the Explorer Hotel.

“The Falconets are scheduled to play two friendly matches during the training camp. These are against FC Bergheim Austria and Wacker Innsbruck FC Austria. The delegation will depart Austria for France on 2nd August ahead of the finals starting on Sunday, 5th August.”

The U20 girls remain Nigeria’s most successful women’s team at global level, winning silver at the FIFA World Cup twice (Germany 2010 and Canada 2014) and bronze once (Japan 2012), and reaching the quarter finals in Thailand (2004), Russia (2006) and Chile (2008).

The four official host cities for the 9th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup are located in the Brittany region: Concarneau, Dinan/Léhon, Saint-Malo and Vannes. The Stade de la Rabine in Vannes will host the opening match on 5th August as well as the final match of the competition on 24th August.

Nigeria will battle Haiti, China and Germany in Group D of the 16 –nation finals, while Africa’s other flagbearer Ghana must negotiate a tough Group A against host France, New Zealand and The Netherlands.

Group B has North Korea, England, Mexico and Brazil while USA, Japan, Paraguay and Spain fight things out in Group D.

The Falconets’ opening match is against perennial foes Germany (who beat Nigeria in the 2010 and 2014 Final matches) at the Stade de Marville in Saint-Malo on Monday, 6th August, before clashes with Haiti at the same venue on Thursday, 9th August and against China in Dinan/Léhon’s Stade de Clos Gastel on Monday, 13th August.

To qualify for the finals, the Falconets dismissed Tanzania’s U20 girls 9-0 aggregate, brushed aside Morocco 6-2 on aggregate and whiplashed their South African counterparts 8-0 over two legs in January this year.

Falconets’ delegation before departure on Friday night

25 PLAYERS FOR FINAL CAMPING

Goalkeepers: Mercy Vincent, Onyinyechukwu Okeke, Rita Akarekor, Chiamaka Nnadozie

Defenders: Glory Ogbonna, Opeyemi Sunday, Lilian Tule, Mary Ologbosere, Joy Duru, Blessing Ezekiel, Oluwakemi Famuditi

Midfielders: Christy Ucheibe, Bashirat Amoo, Peace Efih, Adebisi Saheed, Mary Saiki, Kikelomo Odueke

Forwards: Rasheedat Ajibade, Anam Imo, Joy Jerry, Chidinma Okeke, Charity Reuben, Aishat Bello, Gift Monday, Grace Igboamalu

Nigeria’s Falconets To Begin Preparation For France 2018

Coach Chris Danjuma has invited 35 players to the camp of the U20 Women National Team, Falconets, for the first phase of preparations for this year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals in France.

The list of players who have been told to arrive at the Serob Legacy Hotel, Wuye, Abuja on Thursday includes Rasheedat Ajibade, top scorer for the Falconets in the qualifying series, as well as goalkeeper Onyinyechukwu Okeke, defenders Glory Ogbonna and Kemi Famuditi, midfielders Folasade Ijamilusi and Peace Efih, and forwards Monday Gift, Chidinma Okeke and Charity Reuben.

during the 2018 FIFA U 20 Women World Cup Qualifier match between Nigeria vs South Africa on January,27th 2018 at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium
©Kabiru Abubakar/fotodezamora

The 9th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals will take place in five cities in France between 5th – 24th August 2018.

Nigeria’s Falconets have been drawn in Group D alongside Haiti, China and Germany. The Falconets lost narrowly to the Germans in the Final of the 2010 and 2014 editions of the competition.

Goalkeepers: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Rivers Angels); Mercy Vincent (Confluence Queens); Onyinyechukwu Okeke (Edo Queens); Rita Akariko (Sunshine Queens); Nelly Ekeh (Ibom Angels)

Defenders: Joy Duru (Nasarawa Amazons); Blessing Ezekiel (Rivers Angels); Oluwakemi Famuditi (Confluence Queens); Chidinma Uchegbu (Heartland Queens); Glory Ogbonna (Ibom Angels); Mary Ologbosere (Rivers Angels); Opeyemi Sunday (Sunshine Queens); Lilian Tule (Bayelsa Queens); Honesty Essien (Pelican Stars); Margaret Etim (Delta Queens); Rebecca Ajiga (Edo Queens)

during the 2018 FIFA U 20 Women World Cup Qualifier match between Nigeria vs South Africa on January,27th 2018 at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium
©Kabiru Abubakar/fotodezamora

Midfielders: Taibat Odueke (Edo Queens); Adebisi Saheed (Delta Queens); Christy Ucheibe (Nasarawa Amazons); Folasade Ijamilusi (Spring Soccer); Hannah Yusuf (Rivers Angels); Peace Efih (Edo Queens); Ramat Abdulkarim (Confluence Queens); Mary Saiki (Rivers Angels); Esther Ndubuisi (FC Robo); Esther Onyenezidie (FC Robo)

Forwards: Rasheedat Ajibade (FC Robo); Anam Imo (Nasarawa Amazons); Grace Igboamalu (Nasarawa Amazons); Charity Reuben (Ibom Angels); Aishat Bello (Nasarawa Amazons); Kafayat Bashiru (Jokodolu Babes); Gift Monday (FC Robo); Chidinma Okeke (FC Robo); Dooshima Tarnum (Nasarawa Amazons)