SPAIN-based Asisat Oshoala and Rasheedat Ajibade were the last players to arrive in the Super Falcons’ Lagos camp this morning.
The two brought the number of players in camp to 23 in preparation for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana.
The two West African rivals clash first at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena on the Lagos Island on Wednesday before meeting again in the second leg in Accra on Sunday.
The winners of the tie on aggregate will qualify for the AWCON in Morocco next year.
Barcelona striker and Super Falcons captain Oshoala and Atletico Madrid forward Ajibade are preparing along with regular faces like Onome Ebi, Rita Chikwelu, Francesca Ordega, Chiamaka Nnadozie and Desire Oparanozie, as well as emerging stars Gift Monday and Vivian Ikechukwu.
The Super Falcons and the Black Queens have a longstanding rivalry that has spanned over 20 years, during which Nigeria have beaten Ghana in three AWCON finals: 1998, 2002 and 2006.
However, the new regional qualification format of the Confederation of African Football will ensure that one of the continent’s heavyweights of women’s football will miss out on AWCON and subsequently the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The 2022 AWCON also serves as the qualifying tournament for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Nine-time African champions Nigeria won the last AFCON in Ghana in 2018; the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
