Super Falcons have ambitions of making FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-finals

Nigeria — the Football Ferns’ next opponents — might be ranked 42nd in FIFA’s world rankings, but they have ambitions to punch above their weight at this year’s World Cup.

As her team prepared to play New Zealand in Turkey, Onome Ebi, captain of the Super Falcons, says her team is aiming for a semi-final spot at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Ebi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN):

“We are going there to give our best, and our target is to at least get to the last four, having made it to the round of 16 in our last outing at France in 2019.

“However, there are no guarantees, we are just going there to play our game. We are working towards it and have been playing several high-profile friendly games.”

Main photo: The Nigerian Super Falcons.

‘The World Cup is the big target’

Nigeria play the Ferns at Turkey’s Mardan Sports Complex in the early hours of Wednesday.

On April 8, Nigeria beat Haiti 2-1 in Turkey, and earlier in the year, they beat Colombia 1-0 while losing 1-0 to Mexico and to Costa Rica by the same score.

“In spite of the fact that the results are not what Nigerians want, I believe our losses will help us get better as we work on our mistakes ahead of the World Cup,” Ebi said.

“The World Cup finals is the big target, and that’s what we are working for.”

Barcelona striker Asisat Oshoala scored against Haiti on her recall to international football and partnered with substitute Desire Operanozie who has returned to the Super Falcons after being frozen out of the side for four years after leading a player protest over pay in 2019.

Operanozie has scored 22 goals in her 36 international appearances and poses a threat for the Football Ferns, who drew 1-1 with Iceland on April 8.

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Coach Jitka Klimková: ‘We need to be prepared for a different style of play’

After the Iceland match, Ferns head coach Jitka Klimková said she would be seeking consistency from her team when they played Nigeria.

“We can see we can really well perform well against strong opposition,” she said.

“Nigeria will be a little bit different — we haven’t played a team from the African federation, so we know they will be physical and very athletic, and we need to be prepared for a different style of play.

“It is another great test for this team to be prepared for the World Cup.”

Fixture

Game to be played on Wednesday April 12, 2023

New Zealand v Nigeria
Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey, 1am (NZT).

How to watch

The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sport 1, with coverage starting at 12.50am.

Watch New Zealand v Iceland

Watch nine minutes of edited highlights here:

Watch Nigeria v Haiti

Squads

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