SUPER Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has named a squad of 18 players and four alternates for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games women’s football event, including regular faces like captain Rasheedat Ajibade, African Goalkeeper of the Year Chiamaka Nnadozie and African Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala.
The main squad of 18 players include two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and six forwards, with no room for 40-year-old defender Onome Ebi and veteran forward Francesca Ordega, who had been rumoured to have been imposed on Waldrum by powerful people.
The squad, made up mostly of the players that featured at the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year and reached the round of 16 without losing in open play, also has defenders Osinachi Ohale, Oluwatosin Demehin and Michelle Alozie, midfielders Deborah Abiodun, Halimatu Ayinde, Christy Ucheibe and Toni Payne, and forwards Esther Okoronkwo, Chinwendu Ihezuo and Uchenna Kanu.
Gift Monday and Ifeoma Onumonu, who were also in the 2023 Women’s World Cup squad, are part of the four alternate players.
The Nigeria Football Federation says squad members who are currently on vacation in Nigeria will join home-based players and team officials aboard an Air France flight from Abuja to Sevilla, Spain tomorrow night, with the rest of the squad and technical crew also arriving in Sevilla on Friday for a two-week training camp.
The team is scheduled to depart Sevilla for France on Thursday, July 18.
Nine-time African champions Super Falcons, who are returning to the Olympics for the first time since the Beijing 2008 Games, are in the toughest group in France.
They will face Brazil, world champions Spain and Asian powerhouses Japan, all of whom are ranked higher by FIFA and are much more accomplished than the Super Falcons.
To qualify for the 12-team Olympics, the Super Falcons edged out South Africa’s Banyana Banyana 1-0, with Ajibade scoring the only goal over the two legs in April.
Nigeria’s first game, against Brazil, is at the Stade Bordeaux on July 25, before they battle Spain three days later and Japan on July 31.
The matches against Spain and Japan will be held at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, where the Super Eagles famously defeated tournament favourites Spain 3-2 in a memorable game at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals.
SUPER FALCONS FOR PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS:
Goalkeepers:
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC); Tochukwu Oluehi (Shualat Alsharqia FC, Saudi Arabia)
Defenders:
Osinachi Ohale (Pachucha Club de Futbol, Mexico); Oluwatosin Demehin (Stade de Reims, France); Michelle Alozie (Houston Dash, USA); Nicole Payne (Portland Thorns FC, USA); Chidinma Okeke (Mynavi Sendai Ladies, Japan)
Midfielders:
Deborah Abiodun (University of Pittsburgh, USA); Halimatu Ayinde (FC Rosengard, Sweden); Christy Ucheibe (SL Benfica, Portugal); Jennifer Echegini (Juventus Ladies, Italy); Toni Payne (Sevilla FC, Spain)
Forwards:
Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico Madrid FC, Spain); Esther Okoronkwo (Changchun FC, China); Asisat Oshoala (Bay FC, USA); Uchenna Kanu (Racing Louisville, USA); Chiwendu Ihezuo (Pachucha Club de Futbol, Mexico); Chinonyerem Macleans (Locomotiv Moscow, Russia)
Alternate Players:
Jumoke Alani (Nasarawa Amazons); Ifeoma Onumonu (Utah Royals, USA); Gift Monday (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa, Spain); Morufa Ademola (Rivers Angels)
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