Preview: Super Falcons of Nigeria v Swallows Ladies of Burundi

Published on: 09 July 2022

 

The Super Falcons of Nigeria, will take on the Swallows Ladies of Burundi in the last Group C match of the 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Sunday.

A win for the nine time Champion will catapult them to quarterfinals of the continental championship where they will hope to attain La Decima.

Falcons rekindled their chances of qualifying for quarterfinals after defeating the Zebra Ladies of Botswana by 2-0.

Nigeria had to get their victory after their opening loss to Banyana Banyana of South Africa.

Another triumph over their next opponents will give the Falcons six points and see them finish behind high-flying South Africa.

The Group C runners-up are scheduled to face Group B runners-up.

Qualifying for the next phase is, however, more complicated for Burundi.

The Swallows fell 4-2 to Botswana on matchday one and, despite showing good fighting spirit against South Africa, they still suffered a 3-1 defeat.

Aside from needing a massive win over Nigeria, the East Africans will hope Banyana Banyana beat Botswana silly to hand them a third-best loser spot.

Burundi will have no chance of advancing to the knock-out stages of the tournament as they have no points after two matches in the tournament in Morocco.

Injury to Barcelona forward Asisat Oshoala compounded a disappointing day loss to South Africa. The former Arsenal forward has been ruled out of the competition, leaving head coach Randy Waldrum with a significant headache.

Atletico Madrid star Rasheedat Ajibade got the Falcons’ only goal against the Banyana.

But it was American-born veteran Ifeoma Onumonu and youngster Christy Ucheibe who made the difference for the nine-time champions on Thursday.

Sunday’s encounter is the first-ever face-off between these two national teams

In the absence of a lucky sucker punch, this David and Goliath matchup is heading towards one inevitable outcome – a significant win for the Super Falcons.

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