Nigeria head coach Florence Omagbemi has made a promise that her team will keep their usual "high standard" at the 2016 Africa Women's Cup of Nations (AWCON) in Cameroon.
The Nigerians will begin their title defence this Saturday when they face Mali at the Stade Municipal de Limbe and Omagbemi has made it clear that they "want to retain the (AWCON) trophy".
"We want to keep our high standard. We want to retain the trophy because that is the target in Cameroon," Omagbemi told Cafonline.com.
The former Nigeria captain has already identified hosts Cameroon and Ghana as potential threats to the ambition of the Super Falcons to defend their title.
However, she believes that the other teams billed to take part in the tournament also deserve respect.
“In my playing days, it was never easy against the Ghanaians, though we usually had the upper hand. Nigeria and Ghana started women’s football at the same time and they have ideas and talents about the women’s game.
“So, the Black Queens and even the Cameroonians would naturally want to pose a challenge but we are going to take our matches one at a time because there are no smaller teams again in football," Omagbemi said.
The 41-year-old Nigerian trainer ended up declaring that her team are not under pressure as they look to retain their title.
“We are not under any pressure; we just want to retain our trophy as the defending champions,” she said.
Nigeria play Ghana on November 23 in their second game before rounding off their Group B outing against Kenya three days later.
Credit: supersport