African champions Super Falcons will have a difficult time when the African Women’s Cup of Nations kicks off in Cameroon in November, says former coach of the team, Ismaila Mabo.
The competition will hold from November 19 to December 3 in two Cameroonian cities – Yaounde and Limbe.
The Falcons seem to have an easy group on paper after being drawn in Group B against Kenya, Ghana and Mali but Mabo said the record winners of the competition will have a tough time defending their title.
“The group is a good one for them but when they scale through the group stage, the other teams waiting for them will be tougher to beat as the competition advances,” he told our correspondent.
“The days when Nigeria run over other teams in African competitions are gone. Other African teams have woken up. The teams have nothing to lose when playing against Nigeria, so they will put everything into the match.
“The only way we can find it relatively easy is to begin preparations early enough for the girls. The team should have a direction right from now and know what they want to achieve. The qualifiers were not easy and it was by luck and a lot of hard work from the girls that got Nigeria to this stage.
“If we use the fire brigade approach, which we are known for, the Falcons may be shocked again in Cameroon this time around.”
Falcons have won the competition nine times since it began in 1991. They have lost the title twice to Equatorial Guinea – 2008 and 2012.
