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Justine Madugu reflects on Nigeria’s historic WAFCON 2024 triumph
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Following Nigeria’s dramatic 3–2 comeback victory over host nation Morocco in the final of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), Nigeria’s senior women’s national team head coach Justine Madugu addressed the media in a passionate and insightful post-match press conference, praising his players’ resilience and reflecting on the state of women’s football in Africa.
The Super Falcons came back from 2-0 down at half time to stage a dramatic 3-2 win over Atlas Lionesses in Rabat on Saturday.
The win sealed their 10th WAFCON title becoming the most successful women’s football continental champions to the delight of Madugu.
“Playing the final against the host country, going 2–0 down, and coming back in the second half – I really give the players a lot of credit,” said Madugu.
”We believed we could do it and we kept pushing. At the end of the day, we achieved our goal.”
Madugu emphasized the psychological challenge of being two goals behind in front of a partisan Moroccan crowd, but said belief and mental toughness made the difference.
“If it wasn’t a team that had self-belief and mental resilience, it would’ve been easy to give up. But we kept encouraging them — individually and collectively — at halftime. We told them not to give up. In the second half, they responded magnificently.”
Reflecting on his tactical approach, the coach explained the importance of flexibility and readiness to adapt.
“Sometimes your initial game plan doesn’t work. That’s why you must have a Plan A, Plan B, and even a Plan C. Once we conceded those early goals, we had to switch tactics. We made changes to get ourselves back in the game — and they worked.”
Madugu praised the role of impact players like Esther Okoronkwo, who scored one goal and assisted two others in the final.
“If we didn’t believe Esther would make an impact, she wouldn’t have played. She’s a very intelligent player and still developing. Whether she starts or comes off the bench, she always contributes.”
He also addressed external distractions, including the use of laser pointers from the crowd.
“It wasn’t just the players — even I had lasers pointed at me. But we had prepared for it. It was less intense than in the last edition, and our players remained focused. It didn’t affect them.”
Beyond the tournament, Madugu stressed the need for structural improvements to women’s football across the continent.
“Women’s football in Africa has improved — but we can’t stop here. We must improve facilities, player management, welfare, and build proper developmental structures from grassroots to elite level. When you invest, progress becomes measurable and sustainable.”
Looking forward, the coach underlined the importance of capacity building for coaches and the game’s administrators.
“The game is evolving every day. As we train and build coaches, we must also ensure the knowledge they gain is transferred to the players. A good environment and support system will accelerate this.”
Madugu concluded with a simple but powerful message:
“A football match is not won until the final whistle. We believed that if we scored one goal, we could come back — and that’s exactly what the girls did.”
The 10 time African champions emerged winners in 10 finals they reached since 1998 when the tournament commenced claiming 10 out of 13 titles while Equatorial Guinea (twice) and South Afeica are other champions.
