Paris 2024 Qualifiers: Cameroon coach Bisseck confident of upsetting Falcons in Abuja

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Head coach of Cameroon’s senior women’s national team, Jean Baptiste Bisseck is optimistic that his side can upset Nigeria in the return leg of the Paris 2024 Olympics Qualifiers in Abuja on Monday.

On Friday, the two teams played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the third round of the qualifiers in Douala.

Both sides had chances of winning the game with two goals from the Super Falcons ruled out for an offside and foul and Bisseck whose side played the game without star striker, Ajara Njoya Nchout believes the game is still open.

“The collective is not yet very well established on our side. We’re going to go there and fight for qualification,” Bisseck said at a post-match press conference.

“We already know them we have seen the strong points and the weak points.”

Both teams will join the same flight to Nigeria’s administrative capital, Abuja for Monday’s return leg at the MKO Abiola National Stadium.

The Lionesses have grouses of their own, having been bumped by Nigeria in several major events including being denied the Women Africa Cup of Nations title in front of their fans in 2016, and being shoved out at the quarter-finals of the last Women AFCON tournament in Morocco.

The Super Falcons last participated at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in China in 2008, when they lost by the odd goal to both the Democratic Republic of Korea and Germany in Shenyang, and 1-3 to Brazil in Beijing to crash out at group stage.

The route to London 2012 was blocked by Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses, who won a penalty shoot-out in Yaounde after both teams finished the two legs in a stalemate.

Equatorial Guinea made the journey to Rio 2016 impossible and Cote d’Ivoire bumped the Falcons in the race to a place in Tokyo.