Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has included the recovering Asisat Oshoala among the 22 players invited for next month’s friendly match against Japan in Kobe.
The high-profile warm-up game for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be played at the Noevir Stadium, Kobe on October 6.
Oshoala is returning to the squad after sustaining an injury in the group stages of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in July.
The Barcelona striker missed the rest of the tournament as the Super Falcons finished a disappointing fourth.
The five-time African Women’s Player of the Year is invited along with a majority of the WAFCON squad, with three members of the Falconets’ FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup squad in Costa Rica in August providing some fresh blood.
Among those in the squad are first choice goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, defenders Osinachi Ohale and Ashleigh Plumptre, midfielders Regina Otu, Halimatu Ayinde and Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene, and forwards Uchenna Kanu, Gift Monday, Vivian Ikechukwu and Toni Payne.
The Falconets who have been included are defenders Tosin Demehin, Deborah Abiodun and Rofiat Imuran.
The match serves as continuation of the Super Falcons’ preparations for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand, and comes just weeks after a two-match tour of the United States of America, in which they lost 4-0 and 2-1 to the USWNT.
SUPER FALCONS SQUAD FOR JAPAN FRIENDLY
Goalkeepers:
Chiamaka Nnadozie, Nkiruka Obidinma, Yewande Balogun
Defenders:
Osinachi Ohale, Ashleigh Plumptre, Oluwatosin Demehin, Glory Ogbonna, Rofiat Imuran, Michelle Alozie, Deborah Abiodun
Midfielders:
Regina Otu, Christy Ucheibe, Halimatu Ayinde, Peace Efih, Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene
Forwards:
Asisat Oshoala, Uchenna Kanu, Ifeoma Onumonu, Gift Monday, Vivian Ikechukwu, Rasheedat Ajibade, Toni Payne
