Abuja, June 12, 2014 (NAN) The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) on Thursday said that the full strength of the present Super Falcons had not been matched by their opponents during the qualifying matches.
NFA’s Director of Competitions, Mohammed Sanusi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that Falcons subdued the She-Amavubis during the last African Women Championship (AWC) qualifier because of the opponents’ inexperience.
The Super Falcons on Saturday qualified for the 9th AWC in Namibia after thrashing Rwanda 12-1 on aggregate having thrashed the She-Amavubis 4-1 in Gisenyi, Rwanda on May 24 and 8-0 in Kaduna, Nigeria on June 7.
“We are not going to leave any stone unturned to make sure that we provide all what is needed by the team to do well in the AWC in Namibia.
“But I must also add that we are yet to test the strength of our team.
“So, we need to test the strength of our team with teams like Cote D’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Ghana and Cameroon among others.
“And for international friendlies, probably we need to consider countries such as Brazil, Germany, U.S., and South Korea.
“And when we know those in our group and all the teams that have qualified, we will look at countries that play similar pattern of football.’’
Sanusi however noted that the team’s preparation plan was dependent on the programmes submitted by the technical crew to be ratified by the appropriate authorities.
“Of course, we have to wait for the coaching crew to submit their training programmes on the basis of which we will look at what is to be done.
“In terms of the day they will come to camp, the players to be invited, the logistics, the number of friendly matches they will play at home and outside and the last camping programme before they leave for the African Women Championship.
“ But everything is dependent on when the coach will submit his training programme.
“ Once he does that the technical department will look at it and recommend to the authorities for approval.’’
NAN reports that the Super Falcons will join the hosts, Namibia, and six other countries for the eight-nation AWC scheduled to hold from Oct. 11 to Oct. 25.
The 2014 AWC serves as the continental qualifier for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada next year, with the first three teams at the AWC representing Africa. (NAN)