Falcons Dent Ikhana’s Record

The failure of the Super Falcons to successfully defend the Africa Women’s Championship, AWC, trophy that they won in South Africa two years ago, has dented the once unblemished career of Coach Kadiri Ikhana.

His achievements in Nigeria and on the continent came crashing like a pack of cards in a twinkling of an eye, and he wasted no time in throwing in the towel after the former Enyimba of Aba coach led the senior national female side to the worst ever finish in the history of the AWC in Equatorial Guinea.

Ikhana, whose triumph in the CAF Champions League while in Enyimba earned him the Best Coach award in 2003, was a revered tactician in Nigeria, and beyond prior to the abysmal performance of the Falcons at the recently-held tournament where they finished in the fourth place.

Being a man of principle, Ikhana, on his appointment as the coach of the Falcons, had vowed to tender his resignation on his failure to meet his own target, which was to successfully defend the AWC in Equatorial Guinea.

On their part, sports-loving Nigerian fans had hoped to see him change the dwindling fortunes of the team that seemed to have lost their sharpness, which earned them six African titles in the previous editions of the biennial tournament.

But Ikhana only ended up in breaking the hearts of his Nigerian fans, as the Falcons not only surrendered their African title, that they won in South Africa, but also failed to win a single medal at the championship.

Before the AWC, Nigerians failed to heed the warning signal as the former Kwara United tactician failed to beat South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in a two-legged friendly in the build up to the tournament, which ended in two straight draws.

However, on getting to Equatorial Guinea, the tactical deficiencies of the team were further made visible as they laboured to a 2-1 win over their Cameroonian counterparts in the opening group match.

Though they ended their group games at the summit of the table by winning their remaining two matches convincingly, many football fans in the country knew that the Banyana Banyana would be a great hurdle for the Ikhana-tutored side to cross in the semi-final.

Consequently, it did not come as a surprise to Nigerians when the team lost 1-0 to the South Africans in the semi-final, and later lost with the same margin to the Cameroonians in the third place match.

Meanwhile, many Nigerians and football pundits have called for the head of Ikhana since the poor showing of the team at the tournament.

Among the people calling for the sack of the former Kano Pillars coach is a member of the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Paul Bassey, who blamed Ikhana for Falcons’ failure at the championship. He added that the coach is technically deficient to lead the team.

“There is no doubt that coaching the women is miles apart from coaching men, and the credible credentials of coach Ikhana were not enough to see him through this assignment,” said Bassey.

“A technical crew that decamps the captain of the U-20 female team, Gloria Ofoegbu among others is suspect. Not only is that girl a natural footballer, she is a bundle of energy and a born leader who leads by example.”

—BIMBO AJAYI