Super Falcons Head Coach Randy Waldrum has picked captain Rasheedat Ajibade, goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, defender Osinachi Ohale, forward Asisat Oshoala and 14 other players for this year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in France.
Also among players on the list are defenders Oluwatosin Demehin and Michelle Alozie, midfielders Deborah Abiodun, Halimatu Ayinde, Christy Ucheibe and Toni Payne, and forwards Esther Okoronkwo, Chinwendu Ihezuo and Uchenna Kanu.
Squad members who are currently on holiday in Nigeria will join home-based players and team officials aboard an Air France flight from Abuja to Sevilla, Spain on Thursday night, with the rest of the playing body and technical team also arriving in Sevilla on Friday for a two-week training camp.
The team is scheduled to depart Sevilla for France on Thursday, 18th July
Nine-time African champions Nigeria, who are making their first appearance at the Women’s Olympic Football tournament since 2008 in China, will tackle Brazil, Spain and Japan, in that order, at this year’s tournament.
To qualify for the tournament, the Falcons edged South Africa’s Banyana Banyana 1-0 in the last qualifying round, with a strike from the penalty spot in Abuja by Ajibade separating Africa’s top two teams over two legs in April.
Their first game against Brazil comes up at the Stade Bordeaux on 25th July before confrontations with Spain (28th July) and Japan (31st July).
The matches against Spain and Japan will hold at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, where the Super Eagles famously defeated tournament favourites Spain 3-2 in a memorable game at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals.