Ashleigh Plumptre upbeat about Super Falcons’ chances at Women’s World Cup

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria defender, Ashleigh Plumptre believes her side can cause some upset at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer.

The nine-time African champions reached the Round of 16 of the 2019 edition, 20 years after getting to the quarter-final in 1999 when the West Africans recorded Africa’s best performance global showpiece since inception in 1991.

Drawn against co-hosts Australia, Olympic champions Canada, and European debutant Republic of Ireland in Group B, Randy Waldrum’s side will have to weather the storm to replicate or surpass the above feats.

“We are preparing as we are. Here in Turkey and eyes are set on the summer. We are trying to follow details and the team is ready to perform come the summer World Cup,” Plumptre told NFFTV.

“We definitely can’t look past the World Cup. The pressure is on Australia. I know we have some amazing talents. With good performance, I think we can cause some upsets.”

The Super Falcons are in Turkey gearing up for the ninth edition of the global tournament and had a 2-1 win over World Cup debutant, Haiti thanks to strikes from Esther Okoronkwo and Asisat Oshoala on Friday.

And Plumptre, who missed last Friday’s game due to a knock which she hopes to recover from ahead of the World Cup.

 “It’s good and I think we are picking up momentum now with the results. Not just that but the actual performance which is also the main thing to get a win,” she continued.

“To do that, we have to put a good performance in games and come together. You can see that in the last game.”

“I am good. The defense did a good job the other day. I just got a knock and trying to take care of it. Hoping to be in a good place come the end of the week. We will see how the progression goes,” she concluded.

Next up for the African heavyweights in the build up to the  Women’s World Cup is a clash with co-hosts New Zealand also in Antalya on Tuesday evening.