1st June, 2012
Nigeria’s Super Falcons will on Sunday, at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in South Africa, battle the Banyana Banyana in an international friendly match, which will kick off at 6p.m. Nigerian time.
Both Nigeria and South Africa are using the friendly to prepare for the African Women Championship, AWC, qualifiers return matches against Zimbabwe and Zambia, respectively, on 16 June.
New coach of the Super Falcons, Kadiri Ikhana, won his first match as coach of the team, with a 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe in the first leg played last weekend.
“Our aim is to use the friendly match against South Africa to put our players in good shape for our next match against Zimbabwe,” said Ikhana.
Meanwhile, Banyana Banyana Coach, Joseph Mkhonza, has said that they hope to improve on their strategy to score in the first half of the match when they play against Nigeria on Sunday.
“We are working on some final touch-ups with emphasis on scoring and we hope to start scoring in the first half against Nigeria,” he said.
“Nigeria are one of the powerhouses of African women’s soccer, so we expect a tough game. This game will also help us identify areas of weakness in the team before we go to the London Olympics.”
—Bamidele Olowosagba