9th November, 2012
Former Nigerian manager, Paul Hamilton said it is uncharitable for the Super Falcons to fail to win the AWC title for retiring Perpetual Nkwocha.
Nkwocha, who set a 15-goal target and has scored only two goals so far at the ongoing AWC in Equatorial Guinea, has served a notice to quit international football at the end of the fiesta on Sunday.
The Falcons were stunned 0-1 by South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in Wednesday’s second semi final in Bata.
The former Nigerian player said the defeat to the South Africans has been there waiting for the right time to unfold.
“It wasn’t a surprising result because in recent times, South Africa has been trying to upstage us and they cashed in on the AWC semi final clash to inflict the pain on us.
“It’s an unfortunate situation. I was thinking that the Falcons would have tidied things up and give their retiring colleague, Perpetual Nkwocha a well deserved parting gift. The title would have been appropriate to a player who has brought laurels and smiles to Nigerians. Maybe they are not thinking along that line.
“The Falcons have been magicians shoring up positive results in the past with the poor state of the women’s league at home.
“Nigeria’s domination has been challenged. Of course, women’s football has come of age on the continent. This is a wake-up call on us to immediately start the rebuilding process.
“I think time has come for the likes of Stella Mbachu, Precious Dede and a few others to quit the stage,” said the former Super Falcons’ manager to supersport.com.
Hamilton will want Falcons’ manager, Kadiri Ikhana spared of hard knocks for failing to win the AWC title.
“It’s an adventure for Ikhana, I know it will be a bitter pill for him to swallow. Football is about you win some, you lose some.
“He remains a good coach despite failing to win the title. I think for him to agree to manage the team is a big plus. He shouldn’t be crucified,” he said.
The Falcons will fight for the third place match against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon on Sunday in Malabo.