Nigeria Content Online

The female national
team, the Falcons, will today, know their first round opponents at the
7th Africa Women’s Championships scheduled for South Africa between
October 29 and November 14, 2010.

To represent Nigeria at the draws is the coach of the team, Eucharia Uche, and the goalkeeper and captain, Precious Dede.

Nextsports spoke to
Uche on the eve of her departure for South Africa. She said they will
engage in some warm-up matches to get the team ready for their South
Africa challenge.

“Some friendly matches have been lined up for us in Sweden, where we have more of our foreign-based players,” she said.

After the
runners-up finish of the Falconets in Germany in August, there had been
clamours for their introduction into the senior team. Uche informed
Nextsports that there have been some inclusions.

“Already, six
members of the Falconets team that got to the final of the recently
concluded FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany have been drafted to
shore up the team,” she said.

The notable names
include Rebecca Kalu and Ebere Orji. The team will be returning to the
place of their last triumph, South Africa, where they won in 2006.

Nigeria was beaten
for the first time in the tournament’s history when they lost to
Equatorial Guinea in the 2008 edition hosted in Malabo. The Falcons
lost 2-1 to the host in the semi final match, but regrouped to win the
bronze medal.

The qualified teams are Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Mali, Tanzania, and South Africa.