Onyekachi Chimezie
Newly elected of the Nigeria Women Football League club owners (NWFL) Henrietta Ehiabor has applauded the Falconets for their tenacity and skill despite being eliminated at the quarter final of the 2022 FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup in Costa Rica.
The Nigerian women’s U-20 football team gave it their all against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, according to Henrietta Ehiabor, the chairperson of Delta Queens Football Club, but bad luck and a failure to take chances cost them a spot in the semi-finals.
“I am very pleased and proud of the Falconets’ performance generally and especially in the game against the Netherlands. I think they played their best game of the tournament but lost 2-0 to their more exposed and bigger opponents. We have to learn from the defeat and move on,” said Ehiabor.
Ehiabor Henrietta, who was elected as the new chairperson of the NWFL after defeating outgoing Matilda Otuene of the Rivers Angels last month, urged the team to approach their World Cup matches with a lot of optimism in the wake of the devastating loss to Costa Rica and the realization that there is still work to be done in advance of the subsequent tournament in two years.
“We have to go back to the drawing board with the hope of doing better in the next edition in 2024. The good thing is that we have some young talented players who could graduate into the Super Falcons for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia/ New Zealand. I am of the view that at least five of these Falconets can compete for places in the senior team.
“The Falconets, I must say, did our league a world of good with their performance in Costa Rica. It shows that women’s football is growing in Nigeria and hopefully, we shall continue to unearth more talents that will develop and take over from ageing senior players in the near future” Henrietta stated
The chairperson of Delta Queens praised the coaching staff and other team officials for their efforts in getting the squad into the World Cup’s last eight and challenged them to apply the knowledge they gained to create a better team the following time. She also requested the NFF to include friendly matches featuring the Falconets in the upcoming edition.
“In a nutshell, I am proud of the team and Nigerians should appreciate the girls,” the NWFL boss concluded.
Nigeria U-20 women team failed to advance into the semi-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women World Cup in Costa after losing out to semi-final debutant Netherlands 2-0 in Alajuela, Costa Rica on Sunday night.
