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‘Super Falcons don’t want to repeat past mistakes’ – Captain Onome Ebi
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Ahead of its opening Group B match at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup against Olympic champions, Canada, captain of Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, Onome Ebi is upbeat about the team’s preparation.
The former Minsk FK defender says the team is working assiduously to avoid the mistakes of the past Women’s World Cup.
The Super Falcons has made it out of the group stage at the Women’s World Cup twice in 1999 and 2019 out of its previous eight appearances and will hope to equal and surpass that feat of reaching the quarter-final in 1999 at the end of this year’s tournament.
“Our preparation is going on okay and we are focusing on improving on all fronts; from defense to attack,” Ebi told CAFOnline.
“We are adjusting everything to be ready for the World Cup which is fast approaching. We are focusing on the small details which we don’t want to miss and also, we don’t want to repeat mistakes that we have had in the past.”
The nine-time African champions missed out on a podium finish at last year’s Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) where it lost the third-place match 1-0 to Zambia, its worst finish at the tournament in Morocco.
“Our ambition, definitely, is to do our best. We approach this World Cup with the mindset of performing to our utmost best and conquering. We had some disappointments at the last Women’s Africa Cup of Nations where we did not put the best performance,” she continued.
“We have the opportunity at the World Cup where we do not want to disappoint again. I have faith in my team and I like our current state of mind.
“The team is united and I believe we will be able to do great things at the World Cup. We are motivated and we want to hoist Nigeria’s flag to the highest point.
“The ball is in our court as players and we have to do everything to be on fire physically and mentally for this opportunity.”
The multiple African champions have been drawn in Group B where they will battle out against Canada, Ireland, and hosts Australia, and the ambitious Nigerians are slowly folding their sleeves and getting ready to work for a good performance in Australia and New Zealand.
