Nigeria will not take part in the women’s football tournament of this year’s All-Africa Games after the Super Falcons threw away a one-goal lead to lose their see-saw fixture against Ghana’s Black Queens in Accra on Sunday.
Perpetua Nkwocha scored for the six-time African champions after only 11 minutes but the Queens, who already failed to qualify for this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Germany and were eliminated from the 2012 Olympic Games by Ethiopia, hit back to equalize in the second period and then fired the winner in added time with both teams countenancing extra time.
The defeat summed up a sad weekend for Nigerian football following Saturday’s 3-2 defeat of the Super Eagles by the Hawks of Togo in the final of this year’s West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup tournament in Abeokuta.
NFF General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu, was grieved. “It’s so sad. We threw everything into this second leg to ensure that our team picked the ticket but God decreed otherwise.
“We just have to take it that way because it’s all part of the game. It would have been great to have our women’s team in the All-Africa Games because that would have meant one gold medal guaranteed. But it is not going to happen and we must not lose focus.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup is starting in Germany next month and we are in the final round of the qualifying race for the London Olympics. We must ensure the team is adequately prepared for the World Cup and that we don’t falter in the last round of the Olympics qualifying against another tricky team like Equatorial Guinea”, said Amadu.
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