By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Nine-time African champions, Super Falcons Nigeria may face Ghana and Cameroon on the road to next year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in France following the draw conducted in Cairo, Egypt on afternoon of Tuesday, 30 May, 2023.
After a probable meeting with Ethiopia in the second round of the campaign in October this year, the Falcons will have to confront the winners of the ties between Uganda/Rwanda and Cameroon.
Once they cross the Cameroonian hurdle, the Nigerian girls will be up against the winners of the Guinea Bissau/Benin Republic against Guinea/Ghana.
Recall Cameroon stopped Nigeria from qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics, when they edged a two-leg encounter on penalties in Yaounde, just as also Equatorial Guinea stopped Super Falcons from qualifying for Rio 2016 Olympics while Ivory Coast prevented Falcons from appearing in the last Games held in Tokyo, Japan
However, the Super Falcons have severally stopped the Indomitable Lionesses from reaching the World Cup, including beating them in the Women’s AFCON quarter-finals in Morocco last year to deny the Lionesses a spot in this year’s finals in Australia and New Zealand.
The Falcons equally defeated Cameroon right in front of their home fans in the final of the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.