By Adebayo Abubakar
The Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Agu-Ejidike JP, has commended the Super Falcons of Nigeria for their dogged performance against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic women’s football qualifier, played at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Monday.
Chief Ejidike gave the commendation yesterday at the corporate headquarters of the office of the Nigeria Pillar of Sports (ONPS) in Ilorin during an interaction with some pressmen, shortly after the match.
The Falcons had, three days earlier recorded a goalless draw in Yaounde, as the Ugandan referee ruled out two goals by Esther Okoronkwo, for offside positioning. But in the second leg played in Abuja on Monday, the Super Falcons secured a first-half goal by Okoronkwo, which proved enough to secure passage into the next, and final round of the qualifier.
The Super Falcons will now face the winner in the tie between South Africa, and Tanzania for one of the tickets to the quadrennial event in the beautiful city of Paris. The Bayana Bayana of South Africa remains a favourite to win the tie, scheduled for this Tuesday, having won the first leg, 3-0 away, against their the Taifa (Ladies) Stars counterparts.
The Anambra-born Sports philanthropist, therefore, enjoins the Randy Waldron-tutored Falcons to remain focused on the final hurdle of the race to the Olympics, as South Africa (the likely opponents) have been proving a difficult nut to crack lately, having vastly improved over time.
The last time the Falcons qualified for the Olympics was in Beijing 2008, as they failed to qualify for the 2012 edition in London, the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2020 edition in Tokyo.
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