Super Falcons Begins Title Defence As They Face South Africa

The Super Falcons of Nigeria will begin the defence of their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title when they face the Banyana Banyana of South Africa today ( Sunday) at the Cape Coast Stadium.

Thomas Dennerby’s charges who are the most successful side in the history of the competition having won the competition eight times, will look to start on a fine note against one of their perennial rivals.

The Super Falcons is a team packed with quality stars like reigning African women player of the year, Asisat Oshoala, Fransisca Ordega, Desire Oparanozie, Rasheedat Ajibade and a lot of other established stars.

Ahead of the game, head coach of the team, Dennerby says that he expects a stern opposition from the South Africans.

“We’ve been in camp for like five weeks. We started camp with domestic players and after two weeks we cut the squad down and in the end, with the final squad we have a very good mix of foreign based professionals and very talented home based players,” Dennerby said in an interaction with media in Cape Coast on Saturday.



“I think we’re getting better and better. The only thing that maybe we should have had is two more friendlies because now we are really not sure where exactly we are at the moment.

“They (South Africa) have prepared well. They played lots of friendly games this year – at least 6 or 7, so I have a good picture of them and we know that they are a good team that is getting better and better.

“It’s an enormous situation for the girls because everybody wants to beat the champions, so it’s going to be a very tough game on Sunday.

“The way I feel confident is what I know about my own players; they are really good, they are in good shape and with a lot of experience.”

The competition started on Saturday with hosts Ghana securing a slim 1-0 win against Algeria, while Cameroon edged Mali 2-1 in another Group A encounter.

The Super Falcons, South Africa match will kick-off at 3:30 pm Nigerian time.