Dennerby To Lead Falcons To 9th AWCON Title

Dennerby To Lead Falcons To 9th AWCON Title By Admin Although they were welcomed with songs and dance in Ghana on Wednesday, the Falcons didn’t have the honour of travelling in style to the host country. It was learnt that they travelled with the Zambian and Cameroonian teams who also camped in Ivory Coast. However, it is not all-doom for the Falcons as Dennerby has the talent and experience at his disposal to ensure the achievement of his targets – title defence and World Cup qualification. Dennerby will rely on the experience of captain Rita Chikwelu, who will be making her sixth appearance in Ghana, and veteran defender Onome Ebi, who is making her eighth appearance in the competition. Ngozi Okobi and Desire Oparanozie, who are making their fourth appearances respectively, are also key members of the squad while current African Women’s Player of The Year Asisat Oshoala adds to the options of the Swede tactician. Dennerby and his assistants – fellow Swede Jorgen Petersson; Justine Madugu and Maureen Madu – also have the talent of former Falconets stars Chiwendu Ihezuo and Rasheedat Ajibade, who are making their AWCON debuts, to add to the experienced players. Eighteen-year-old Ajibade is currently the best player in the domestic league and could add value to the team. The FC Robo star, if given the opportunity at the tournament, can prove herself as one of the best forwards on the continent. The Falcons will also play COSAFA Cup runners-up Zambia and Equatorial Guinea in their other group matches enroute to their title defence. They will meet any of hosts Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria and Mali from the semi-finals. The Ghanaians won the 2018 WAFU Women’s Championship after beating Nigeria in the semi-finals. Dennerby said his team’s focus was on World Cup qualification. He said, “Our ambition is to win the tournament but importantly, to secure our ticket to the 2019 World Cup in France. Of course, we know it is never going to be easy because there is a big improvement from many teams; so it is important to have preparation if you want to win games. “There is always pressure on the head coach and you have to live with that. I am 59 years now but I am lucky to have experience from two world cups, two Olympics, two European Championships and as head coach for so many clubs as well as playing in the Champions League. But we can just focus on our jobs and not speculate too much. I think we are going to have a good tournament in Ghana.” Team captain Chikwelu backed her coach. “We want to qualify for the Women’s World Cup because we believe we should be out there playing against the best teams in the world. Personally, it is my wish to see the Super Falcons reach the semi-finals at the Women’s World Cup and Ghana 2018 is an opportunity for us to show what we are capable of doing. We want Nigerians to pray for us so that we can get to the World Cup as well as win the AWCON trophy,” she said. But former Falcons midfielder Mbachu warns the team against complacency. She said, “Everyone expects Nigeria to win but given the preparation of the team and the lack of motivation for the players, the job will be difficult. The talents are there but they need to be motivated and well-prepared to ensure that they give their best in every match. “The other teams are no more what they used to be when Nigeria beat them with as much as five goals. The margin is very narrow now and the Falcons should not underrate any team in Ghana or else there could be an upset from any of them.”