27 players in Falconets camp ahead of qualifiers for Costa Rica 2022
The Falconets’ Head Coach, Christopher Danjuma, says 27 of the invited 35 players have arrived at the national under-20 women’s football team camp in Abuja.
Danjuma said on Tuesday that two foreign-based players, one from Denmark and the other from England, were also expected to join the camp shortly.
The camp was open ahead of the upcoming African Qualifiers for the 10th FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica from Aug. 10 to Aug. 28, 2022.
The coach explained that ”the invited players were mostly coming from clubs in the country’s leagues, with several coming from the under-17 cadre.”
“Most of the players were taken from clubs which played in the NWFL Super Six and Aiteo Cup finals, and I think we are still picking the best of the best according to our ability,” he said.
Danjuma, however, noted that the players’ performance have been good.
He said, “We have a very young team, and our girls have been doing very well in their various leagues.
“These players are ready to work hard with determination and a display of talents that will make them reach the top of their career.”
No challenge
He stated that his team was at the moment not facing any challenge.
“The Federation is basically doing well. The accommodation is conducive, and so far there is no complaints yet from any of the players. They are well relaxed to bring out the best in them.
“Also, with the way we are going with the set of players called to camp, these are the set of players that we will develop as the competition keeps growing on, and they are the group of players that will be a revolution in Nigerian football,” Danjuma said.
He pointed out that the technical crew has about four weeks to train and camp the players and he and his colleagues would strive to achieve their aim.
“Our players are good. So, we will do our best to play to our strength. We will not underrate any country. But Nigeria has what it takes to come out victorious against other teams.
“We will start playing friendly matches as from Saturday.
“We are still deciding to know which teams we are going to play against, but we are going to start intensifying efforts to play against the teams around the FCT,” the coach said.
The Falconets have drawn bye into the second round where they will face Central African Republic (CAR).
Nigeria have qualified for the World Cup nine times and have finished as runners-up on two occasions (2010 and 2014), and the quarter-finals four times (2004, 2006, 2008 and 2018).
They also finished fourth in 2012 and did not go past the group stage in 2002 and 2016.
NAN/Mercy Chukwudiebere
