Champion League
2024 CAF Women’s Champions League: Edo Queens enviable records in maiden appearance
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
With four teams; Edo Queens, FC Masar, AS FAR FC, and TP Mazembe through to the semi-final of the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League, the Nigerian women’s league champions have set some enormous records for the country and the team at the tournament.
The third Nigerian team to take part in the complete after Rivers Angels (2021) and Bayelsa Queens (2022), has played three games, two less than the Prosperity Girls, which finished third in 2022 with the country’s best finish but has set some superlative records.
By their 3-0 win over Commerical Bank of Ethiopia FC in their Group B opener, Moses Aduku’s side became the first Nigerian team to win their first game in the tournament.
Rivers Angels lost 3-0 to AS FAR FC in their opener in 2021 while Bayelsa Queens were edged 2-1 by Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies.
They also kept a clean sheet in their first game, making the Benin City-based side the first Nigerian team not to concede a goal in their first game.
They extended the record with a 0-0 draw with FC Masar (Egypt) becoming the first club from Nigeria to keep clean sheets in their first two group games.
A 2-1 comeback win over holders, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies ended the South African dominance over Nigerian teams in the competition.
The Brazilians had beaten two previous Nigerian teams, Rivers Angels (1-0) and Bayelsa Queens (2-1) in the first two editions.
With the victory, the 2024 NWFL Premiership champions also top their group with seven points and a superior goal difference ahead of FC Masa,r ending Sundown’s campaign at the tournament in the group stage for the first time in history.
Notably, Sundowns reached the final of the last three editions winning two titles in the process.
This placed the West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) winners as the first Nigerian club to top their group at the four-year-old tournament.
With a semi-final clash against TP Mazembe on Tuesday, a win against the Democratic Republic of Congo side will make Edo Queens the first Nigerian team to reach the final, beating Bayelsa Queens record.
African women’s football enthusiasts expect more drama and records with four games left at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League.
