Umea IK Swedish Damallsvenskan attacking midfielder, Rita Chikwelu has replaced injured En Avant de Guingamp player, Evelyn Nwabuoku as new captain of the Super Falcons as the team prepare for their defence of the Africa Women Cup of Nations(AWCON) title which kicks-off on Saturday in Cameroon.
Nwabuoku was ruled out due to injury few days to the team’s departure, and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Friday made public the appointment of Chikwelu as the new captain of the team. Speaking on the development, Falcons head coach Florence Omagbemi said, “Ladies, you all know why the captain is not here with us, so we will be needing someone else to fill in for her in this competition.
“Alongside my assistants, we have decided to pick Rita Chikwelu to be the captain and Osinachi Ohale as the assistant. And I want you all to co-operate with them and work together as a team.”
28- year-old Chikwelu played for Nigeria at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China and was a member of the Nigerian team to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. She made her senior national team debut in 2007 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China.
Meanwhile, the Falcons open defence of their AWCON title on Sunday against Mali at the Stade Municipal de Limbe in Cameroon.
credit: soccernet