Falconets sure of trophy in Japan

Nigeria’s U-20 women’s team, the Falconets, are ambitiously rating their chances of becoming the first African team to win a women’s FIFA event in September.

Their confidence springs from a surprise success two years ago when they reached the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany and the victory against Korea yesterday.

One of the team’s reliable players, Francisca Ordega exudes confidence that the trophy is theirs to lose.

“The match against Korea is a pointer to how far we can go and has boosted our confidence. You can be sure that we are not in Japan to count skyscrapers, but to win the World Cup,” she said.

Nigeria lost the final match of the last edition against a more organised German team, but the girls are armed with the belief that they could do themselves one better in Japan.

“We know the pressure is on Nigeria because of our performance at the last World Cup, but we are working towards posting another good outing,” declared centre forward Desire Oparanozie, who scored Nigeria’s second goal against Korea yesterday.