Ahead of the first leg of the second round of the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations qualifier against Cape Verde, the interim coach of Nigeria’s Super Falcons Justin Madugu has revealed the reason some key players of the team are unavailable.
Since the conclusion of the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, half of the Super Falcons players have been unavailable for selection.
The reasons for their absence remained unknown to many but Madugu during a press conference on Wednesday explained that they were absent due to some vital reasons.
“You always want to get the best legs around. People keep making comparisons with the performance of the Super Falcons at the Women’s World Cup expecting that each time we go out we want to see the same level of performance. Yes, it’s right and appropriate for people to want to see the players sustaining whatever standard they may have set for the team.”
“But let’s be realistic with ourselves since after the World Cup we’ve been unable to get half of the players that played in Australia due to one reason or the other”, he said.
Players like Ashleigh Plumptre, Deborah Abiodun, Osinachi Ohale, Onome Ebi, Francisca Ordega etc have not played for the team since their last World Cup game against England.
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