Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene canvasses for Super Falcons B set up for NWFL players

Nigeria midfielder Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene has clamored for the reinvention of Super Falcons team B for to help the home-based players challenge for regular places on the senior national team.

The 29-year-old highlighted that the objective of the Nigeria Women’s Football League as the budding foundation to nurturing and raising talents to the various national teams over the years.

Okobi has grown through the Nigerian women’s teams, featuring at the 2008 and 2010 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup and later at the 2012 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup with the Falconets. At the senior level, Okobi has also paid her dues, winning four Women’s Africa Cup of Nations titles and also playing at the World Cup twice.

Under the watch of Randy Waldrum since January 2021, Okobi believes that home-based players are not given equal opportunities to compete as their foreign-based counterparts.

“Everyone is Nigerian bond, whether you’ve been born abroad or in Nigeria,” Okobi said on Osasu’s Twitter Spaces.

“Randy came and brought in several players from the diaspora, which we all saw in the World Cup, they did very well, not just in the World Cup and also in the Nations Cup but the thing is, the Nigerian League was set out for a reason.

“I was a product of the Nigerian League, Desire Oparanozie was a product of Nigerian League. Asisat Oshoala was a product of the Nigerian League. So now, how do you encourage Nigerian League players?

“Give Local based players the opportunity to show themselves, we have good players in Nigeria. I will never go against home-based players because I started from there, the majority of us started from there and I feel like they need to be encouraged more by creating a platform for them.

“Create a Falcon B like we have before, not all home-based players will be eligible to play cadet football. Let them represent at WAFU, get competitive matches for them, and promote them to the national team if they are convincing enough.”