Uchenna Kanu’s brace at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos last Wednesday put the Super Falcons in a comfortable position as they face Ghana’s Black Queens in the second leg of the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) on Sunday (today).
Randy Waldrum’s side will ensure they avoid a defeat at the Accra Sports stadium, the venue of the clash.
Both teams have attended all the past eleven editions of the tournaments in which the Falcons have won a record nine times while the Black Queens best performances at the championships were three best runners up finishes in 1998, 2002 and 2006, losing all finals to the Falcons.
The Falcons are gunning for their 12th appearance of the tournament and any results other than defeat will edge them to the next round of the qualification.
That next round could well be against Lady Elephants Ivory Coast’s, who mauled their counterparts from Niger Republic 9-0 in their first leg encounter last Wednesday. The final round of qualifiers comes up in February next year.
Failure to make it to the group stage of the 2022 AWCON could prove disastrous for the Falcons knowing that the tournament will also serve as the qualifier for the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Barcelona forward and captain of the team, Asisat Oshoala, said the team would put up a better performance in the encounter in Accra.
“We know that the Black Queens are strong and determined when playing at home. Now, we have to up our game and play like we did not win this first leg. We have to go all out and attack better than we did here. Qualification for the AWCON is non-negotiable,” Oshoala said
Meanwhile, head coach of the Queens, Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo has named a squad list of 18 players for the second leg of the encounter.
Nigeria are currently the defending Champions in Africa having defeated South Africa by 4-3 on penalties to win the last of the competition edition hosted in Ghana.
