Oviri Kelvin
As the campaign of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco is set to begin on 16 February, 2022, the fate of the final 10 female national teams will be decided in the two-legged qualifying contests.
The withdrawal of the Harambee Starlets of Kenya gave a bye to the Ugandan Crested Cranes while Morocco has already sealed their place in the Women’s continental football competition slated to span July 2 – 23, 2022.
According to the governing body of Africa football, CAF, the Women’s Africa Nations Cup will be a qualifying vessel to decide on the countries to represent Africa in the 2023 Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
It is noteworthy to state that countries who reach the semifinal stage of the Africa women’s continental competition in Morocco, automatically secure their place in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
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The Falcons of Nigeria who have won three editions of the Women’s Africa Nations Cup will face a difficult tie with the Cote D’Ivoire in a two-legged qualifying match.
Nigeria will be hosting the Lady Elephants in the first leg of the two-legged matches at the Moshood Abiola International Stadium, Abuja, on Friday, February 18.
The female national football team of Cote D’Ivoire ranked 15th in the world, will not be a tea party for the Super Falcons who had previously been knocked out in the qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Nonetheless, the resilient Nigeria Super Falcons know what they are up against and are determined to qualify ahead of the Lady Elephants for this year’s continental tournament.
Randy Waldrum, the coach of Super Falcons, said, “We obviously know what’s at stake.
“We know the history with the Ivory Coast and we have a lot of respect for their side,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Banyana Banyana captain Andile Dlamini has said South Africa women’s team will put all efforts to ensure they qualify for the women’s 2022 AFCON tournament in Morocco.
She added that having scaled through the hurdles in the qualifying phase, the team will put in their best performance to help the team finish them finish in a position that guarantees a qualification for the Women’s 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Dlamini said, “This is a step that we really need to focus on.
“You have to qualify for the Women’s AFCON. When we get there, we have to make sure we perform to our level best to qualify for the World Cup,” she added.
The Super Falcons who narrowly defeated her neighbouring West African rivals, Ghana, in the first round in October 2021, are determined to see off the Lady Elephants in the qualifying matches.
Women’s AFCON second-round play-off first leg ties
Wednesday, 16 February
Burundi v Djibouti (13:00 GMT); Zambia v Namibia (13:00 GMT); Guinea-Bissau v Burkina Faso (15:30 GMT); Senegal v Mali (16:30 GMT)
Thursday, 17 February
Togo v Gabon (15:00 GMT)
Friday, 18 February
Zimbabwe v Botswana (13:00 GMT); South Africa v Algeria (14:00 GMT); Tunisia v Equatorial Guinea (14:00 GMT); Cameroon v The Gambia (14:30 GMT); Nigeria v Ivory Coast (15:00 GMT)
