Nigeria Players Abroad
‘It was a nice feeling scoring against my national team coach Waldrum’ – Onyi Echegini
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Nigeria forward, Onyi Echegini is on cloud nine after scoring the winning goal for Florida State University (FSU) in a 3-2 victory over University of Pittsburgh and her Nigeria coach, Randy Waldrum on Thursday.
Echegini and Waldrum have also spent a lot of time on Nigeria squad since the American tactician was appointed head coach in 2020, guiding the Super Falcons to the Women’s World Cup qualification.
Echegini’s relationship with Waldrum goes beyond opposing sidelines and scoring against the national coach Waldrum was a thing of joy for the Super Falcons player.
“It always feels good when I can do something for my team,” Echegini said.
“It is a nice feeling to score against my coach in Nigeria, but honestly I want to do whatever I can to help the team win. I was needed in the moment to score and that’s my thought process behind it.”
Echegini was a part of that roster that not only made history by making it to the tournament but won its first-ever game, defeating co-host Australia, 3-2.
The West African side and record nine-time African champions moved onto the Round of 16, taking runner-up England to penalty kicks.
Echegini won’t travel to Addis Ababa with Nigeria for the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers against Ethiopia but will hope to play more games and score for the Super Falcons in the future.
