The Super Falcons last Saturday retained their Africa Women Cup Of Nations (AWCON) title by defeating the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon on Saturday in the packed Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde 1-0. Victory came with a late strike from Desire Oparanozie in the 84th minute to end any dreams the Lionesses had of winning the title for the very first time.
The final on Saturday was a repeat of the previous edition in Namibia where Nigeria ran out 2-0 winners over Cameroon. This final however, was more keenly contested as hosts, Cameroon had the backing of a nation who were hopeful of winning the trophy for the first time at home. The prospect of defeating arch rivals Nigeria made the final a much bigger occasion.
But the Super Falcons had other ideas and with many experienced players who have played at the highest level in the squad, they were able to handle the occasion and come out tops in a difficult final in which the hosts failed to convert some good scoring opportunities.
The victory over Cameroon means Nigeria are Champions for the 8th time. Only twice has Nigeria ever failed to win the title. Nigeria still maintains an impressive record of never losing a final. Super Falcons Coach, Florence Omagbemi becomes the second woman after Uche Eucharia to win the trophy as both player and coach.
This victory over Cameroon was quite a sweet one but the path to victory this time around however, wasn't so smooth.
As usual getting the squad together to prepare for this tournament was a challenge for the footballing authorities. Preparations were less than ideal and it showed when the competition began.
The Super Falcons had to be dogged and spirited to overcome the challenges they had coming into the championship if they were to retain their title. They didn't disappoint.
They thrashed Mali 6-1 in their first game. They were held by the Black Queens of Ghana 1-1 in their next game but returned to winning ways by despatching Kenya 4-0.
The semi final was a tighter affair as they were able to overcome South Africa's Bayana Bayana 1-0 to qualify for the show down with tournament hosts Cameroon in the final.
The Super Falcons had to battle a logistics nightmare before they arrived Yaounde as they were made to travel in batches after being abandoned for 6 hours at the airport. The first batch went to Yaounde by air but the second batch had to travel by road after a technical issue occurred with the aircraft. Whether these antics were just psychological attempts to give the Lionesses an edge over the Falcons or whether it was just sheer incompetence by the local organising committee, only the Cameroon FA (Fecafoot) can tell.
On arrival in Yaounde, the Falcons met a noisy and hostile reception both at the airport and even in the city. The players expressed their disappointment at the manner in which they were treated but as it all turned out, they were able to use the negative experience to inspire a resilient and determined performance in the final.
Arsenal's Asisat Oshoala who failed to score in the final emerged top scorer with 6 goals. She was ably assisted by Desire Oparanozie who scored 3 goals. Oparanozie who plays for Guingamp in France, was the hero of the knock out stages as she grabbed the winner against South Africa and Cameroon.
The African Champions are now back home and will be meeting the President soon as he will be hosting them to a reception in Abuja to not only celebrate with the team but to hopefully reward them.
What next for the Super Falcons? Coach Florence Omagbemi has lamented the lack of games in female football and has appealed for more club and international competitions for women in Africa.
She believes African team's could benefit at international tournaments if there were more tournaments for clubs and national teams. She appealed to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to look into this problem.
