Super Falcons old warhorses for 2023 World Cup

Africa’s most successful women’s national team the Super Falcons will kick-off their campaign at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on July 21 against Olympic champions Canada. Having appeared at all the past editions of the global showpiece, the Super Falcons are aiming to better their best record at the mundial which is the quarter-final finish at the 1999 edition in the United States of America.

At the moment, the Super Falcons are putting finishing touches to their preparations in Australia which is co-hosting the championship with New Zealand. Despite the crisis that has engulfed the team following the open confrontation between the Technical Adviser of the Falcons, Randy Waldrum and the NFF, expectations are that some of the stars in the team would rise up to the occasion and give Nigerian fans something to savour.

So, in the list of 23 players for the World Cup are some highly experienced players like Onome Ebi, Francisca Ordega, Osinachi Ohale and Desire Oparanozie whom many prefer to call old warhorses. Some, if not all of them will be playing their last World Cup in Australia/ New Zealand but they can inspire their teammates to deliver the results expected of them.

Although some Nigerians are not comfortable with the inclusion of some of these veterans in the team, it is now left for them to prove their doubters wrong with commanding performances.

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Trust Sports takes a look at some of these oldies who still have so much in their tanks to propel the Super Falcons to glory beginning from July 21 at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Onome Ebi

The long-standing defender, Onome Ebi, made her debut in 2003 and has played 107 games, scoring 3 goals for the Super Falcons. Her first goal was against Romania on January 20, 2019 in the Four Nations tournament held in China. On March 6, 2019, she scored her second goal against Thailand in the 2019 Cyprus Women’s Cup while her third goal came during a friendly match against New Zealand on 11 April 2023.  She is setting a record as the oldest female player to feature at the world cup at 40 years. In 2019 she became the first African footballer to play in 5 FIFA World Cup tournaments taking part in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, 2019 editions. She is making her sixth trip to the finals, becoming one of just three women to do so. Japan’s Homare Sawa and Brazil’s Formiga are the only other two.

Tochukwu Oluehi

Tochukwu Oluehi is a 36-year-old goalkeeper who has played in three previous World Cups and the Olympic Games. She has played for clubs in Belarus, Norway, Israel, and Turkey.

Osinachi Ohale

She has been a mainstay of the national squad for more than ten years and is capable of playing right-back or center-back. She played in the 2011, 2015, and 2019 World Cups before entering her fourth competition this year. She has also won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations four times. Additionally, she has been recognised in the IFFHS CAF Woman Team of the Decade. She has played for teams in Sweden, Italy, and the United States in addition to Spain, where she presently plays club football. The defender for Deportivo Alaves made her debut in 2010 and has since played 26 times and scored a goal.

Desire Oparanozie

The 29-year-old former Bayelsa Queens is a regular member of the Nigerian national team since 2010, participating in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments of 2011, 2015, and 2019.

The Wuhan Jianghan University player has played 35 times while scoring 22 goals. She is yet to score a goal at the World Cup and she may set her sights on breaking that jinx as this may be her last World Cup.

Oparanozie is a seasoned forward with international experience who has played in Turkey, Russia, Germany, France, and China. She also has four titles from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Francisca Ordega

The CSKA Moscow forward is among the few players who have represented Nigeria at all levels. At senior level she played in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments of 2011, 2015 and 2019. Since her debut in 2010, the very travelled footballer has played 26 times and has scored 7 goals. Ordega opened her World Cup account when she scored Nigeria’s equalizing goal against Sweden on 8 June 2015.

Asisat Oshoala

28 years old Oshoala is no doubt an old warhorse and the most influential member of the team. She is undoubtedly one of the greatest female players to have come out of Nigeria and Africa. She spent time in China, played for Liverpool and Arsenal in England, and is now plying her trade in Spain for FC Barcelona. She plays offensive midfield and was given the moniker “Seedorf” in honour of the Dutch midfielder.

The prolific Barcelona striker earned her debut in a friendly loss to world champions Japan in September 2013 and went on to become the first African woman to win the Primera División’s Pichichi Trophy in 2022. She’s been to two world cups. At the 2019 edition, FIFA nominated her goal, which she scored against South Korea for Goal of the Tournament. She has 30 goals in total so far for Nigeria since her debut. Two of them were at the World Cups in 2015 and 2019. She is going to Australia/ New Zealand for her third World Cup appearance and can go two more barring unforeseen circumstances.

Apart from the old warhorses, there are younger players and other upcoming stars like Rasheedat Ajibade, Gift Monday, Glory Ogbonna, Ashleigh Plumptre, Rofiat Imuran, Michelle Alozie, and Oluwatosin Demehin to look out for.

Others are Halimatu Ayinde, Toni Payne, Christy Ucheibe, Deboraj Abiodun, Onyi Echegini, Uchenna Kanu, Ifeoma Onumonu and Esther Okoronkwo.

Despite their ambition, the Super Falcons must first overcome Olympic champions Canada, co-hosts Australia, and the Republic of Ireland in order to progress from the group stages of the largest Women’s World Cup to date, which is featuring 32 teams.