Former Super Falcons coach, Godwin Izilien, has urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to look beyond the country’s recent defeat of Cape Verde to qualify for the Morocco 2024 African Women’s Cup of Nations and seek ways to make the team better than they were at the Australia/New Zealand 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Izilien said beating Cape Verde should not be cause for so much elaborate celebration due to the gap between both nations’ women football, saying that the NFF should be worried that the women game seems not to be growing in tandem with the quality of talents produced by the country.
He said the NFF’s main concern should be in getting a quality coach, who will not only win next year’s African Women’s Cup of Nations, but also present a team that can challenge the world’s elite
According to Izilien, the Super Falcons should be competing at the same level the United States, Spain, Holland, France, England, and Germany, who did not prove to be too far above Nigeria at the last women’s World Cup.
“The NFF need to do certain things, including spending money to get a top coach for the team. We cannot keep going to big championships just to participate.
“Women football is growing by the day and Nigeria needs to invest more in it to be at par with other top nations. The team also needs standard organisation and officers, who know their task, to grow.
“By now, most teams in the world should be scared of Nigeria, but the fact still remains that the NFF is not investing in women football.”
On next year’s African Women’s Cup of Nations, Izilien said Nigeria can win the competition if the Falcons get adequate support in terms of preparation and motivation.
“Our focus should be on winning the next Nations Cup and the World Cup with the plan to achieve such dreams beginning immediately. I am saying this because Nigeria has talented women football players in abundance and can form three formidable teams without much stress. We should have three standing national teams ready for action at all times if things were done the right in this country,” he said.
