Ifeoma Onumonu: ‘Super Falcons can get better with time’

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

After becoming the first Nigerian player to score against the French senior women’s national team, Ifeoma Onumonu is confident that the Super Falcons can get better.

The former Gotham FC player has been in stellar form for Montpellier this season with five goals in eight league games.

The form was replicated at the national team level against France as she entered the history books as the first Super Falcons player to score against Le Bleues in four games.

She said better preparation and more games together can help sharpen the efficiency of the team.

Speaking with OJBsportstv after the game against France, Onumonu expressed optimism as regards the performance of the team: “I feel good, I feel proud, I think we played well, and I’m happy that we have something to build on. I think the team’s performance was good, especially with the mix of players that we had,” she said.

“Some of us have never played together before, and for some of us, this is the first time since the Olympics playing together, so it’s nice,” she added.

Onumonu is confident that the Super Falcons will improve with time and preparation.

The Super Eagles forward further expressed her delight when questioned on her record-breaking goal: “It felt good, it’s been a while since I scored for Nigeria so it felt good to get a goal back. I feel I’m finding my confidence since changing clubs, and the end product is being able to come here and score goals for the team,” she asserted.

Looking forward to the WAFCON tournament, Onumonu preaches that the team will get better with more preparation: “We had only two training sessions and despite that, we played very well. In terms of preparation, I wish we had more because with more preparation, we can get more information, and we can perform better,” she said.

“It is only telling that when we have more time and with WAFCON in the summer, with more time to prepare, we’ll be a better team,” the Montpellier forward confidently declared.

The Super Falcons will face Tunisia, Algeria, and Botswana in Group B off 2024 Womedn’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) next year.