July, 6 2023.
Upon their arrival in Gold Coast, Australia on Tuesday for a 15-day training camp, the Super Falcons of Nigeria have had their first training session preparatory to the FIFA Women's World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, from July 20 - August 20, 2023.
Eighteen (18) players took part in the inaugural workout. But www.ckdmedia.ng was told, there were in all 21 players that had arrived the team's camp as at Wednesday.
The duo of China-based Francisca Ordegah, and Halimatu Ayinde who is based in the US, are the only players yet to arrive the Falcons camp.
The bulk of the players and officials of the Falcons arrived in Gold Coast on Tuesday, July 4th, to intensify preparation for the world cup, where the nine-time African champions are drawn in Group B which also houses Australia, Canada and the Republic of Ireland.
Prior to their depature from Abuja, the team had a farewell dinner, organized for them by the Nigeria Football Federation (0999909999NFF) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, where the first lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu urged them to fly to Australia with pride, do exploits and bring back the trophy to Nigeria.
But beyond the smoke screen, have been some unsavory developments of last week that had the propensity of further lowering the morale of the team, that are in the tournament as Africa's fourth best team.
While the outcry that greeted the exclusion of two key performers at the 2022 AWCON in Morocco, were yet to settle, head coach of the team, Randy Waldrum who rarely inspires confidence in majority of fans and the hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) got entangled in media rants, that exposed some of the deep rooted rot in both the team, and virtually all facets of our national teams.
While hoping Ordegah and Ayinde will safely arrive camp anytime soon, it's wise to remind the NFF that it's still very possible for the Falcons to match and exceed our best performance at the inaugural edition of the Mundial, when Nigeria was on the brink of qualifying for the semi-finals before Brazil struck.
But to achieve this lofty goal, the services of a reputable sports psychologist will be needed to reawaken many dampened spirits or emotions, in the squad.
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