To me the coach did part one right which was to maintain the same squad that conquered Africa but the list is very poor. No single CMF or DMF. I hope they are not taking our girls out to slaughter.

BascoVanVeli:
To me the coach did part one right which was to maintain the same squad that conquered Africa but the list is very poor. No single CMF or DMF. I hope they are not taking our girls out to slaughter.

The midfielders there are versatile, expecially Captain Rita Chikwelu. She is a Strong and experienced player, who can play as a DMF, CMF, AMF.
By the way coach Thomas Dennerby will be playing the 4-4-2 formation with the Chikwelu and Okobi in the Middle. Oghonna Chukwudi or Esther Sunday been natural Left footers from Left, Fransisca Ordega or maybe Anam Imo from the Right. With Oparanozie, Dike or Umotong Upfront.

I know of Chikwelu's versatility but it is not enough. That midfield pair of Okobi and Chikwelu still looks lightweight to me. When I saw the 17-woman list, I was really asking myself, "Where are the natural DMs?"

France has so much power in the middle. I really Dont wamt to see our girls get overrun.

Schemerkhiz:

The midfielders there are versatile, expecially Captain Rita Chikwelu. She is a Strong and experienced player, who can play as a DMF, CMF, AMF.
By the way coach Thomas Dennerby will be playing the 4-4-2 formation with the Chikwelu and Okobi in the Middle. Oghonna Chukwudi or Esther Sunday been natural Left footers from Left, Fransisca Ordega or maybe Anam Imo from the Right. With Oparanozie, Dike or Umotong Upfront.

TheSuperNerd:
I know of Chikwelu's versatility but it is not enough. That midfield pair of Okobi and Chikwelu still looks lightweight to me. When I saw the 17-woman list, I was really asking myself, "Where are the natural DMs?"

France has so much power in the middle. I really Dont wamt to see our girls get overrun.

It just one match, with time other midfielders will be brought in Ayinde, Nwabuoku, igbinovia and Okoronkwo.

Ngozi Okobi might be a little bit light weight but she is quite nimble and gets away from her markers pretty quickly, her size shouldn't count against her that much, her low center of gravity helps her game alot.

NGOZI SONIA OKOBI born 14 December 1993 (age 24) Plays as a central attacking midfielder and is described as a "gifted playmaker " who "possesses superb technique". Okobi is also known for her "elegant possession, sublime passing skills, and cultured touch on the ball".

Ngozi Okobi primarily plays as an attacking midfielder , but can also be deployed in central midfield as a deep-lying midfielder , or as a winger . Internationally , she primarily plays as a playmaker in the coveted 10 role just behind the strikers , Two of Okobi most common exemplary traits are her vision and passing, which have been described as "one-of-a-kind" and "sublime", respectively. She is also known for her distinct understanding of the game, which has led to her developing "a great football IQ". In addition to her creativity, eye for goal, and tactical awareness, she is known for outstanding control and
dribbling ability, as well as her elegance on the ball. Her technical skill and ability to read the game allow her to determine "when to take a defender on one-on-one, how to find a teammate with a slide-rule pass, and how to exploit tight spaces to create scoring chances for herself and her cohorts". For these reasons, her playing style has drawn comparisons with Barcelona star midfielder Andrea Iniesta, Manchester city K De Bruyne

From her days at the 2008 and 2010 Fifa U-17 WWC, I have always reckoned with Okobi's nimble feet and quick turn of pace and graceful twisting moves. Her low center of gravity is also an asset and makes her hard to get off the ball. Rita Chikwelu also possesses a good low center of gravity. Both are hard to get off the ball and have close control too. Rita also has good marking abilities and I have seen her do a job in the DMF role before but ball winning is not really among her top traits.

This is one of the few reasons I was hoping for at least the presence of one natural DM.
Okobi is that very special kind of no.10. Rita can do a job as an AM, CM, and DM (CDM) and has good marking skills. Okobi too can mark but doing a lot of that will take away from her offensive shine. The French are fast and very technical and will match us pace for pace.

In all shaa, this is a friendly and we are indeed missing a lot of key/star players. Let's shaa see what the available ones will muster against a full strength French side led by Le Sommer and Amandine Henry.

Happy to see Dike and Umotong return. Happy too to see Ogonna Chukwudi who played alongside Chikwelu at the 2008 Fifa U-20 WWC where Chikwelu was once called the Thierry Henry of the women's game at that edition.

We have the talents scattered all over to mame a super formidable Super falcons side. Hope Dennerby builds on whatever result we pick up shaa. It is well.

And why wasn't Tochukwu Oluehi invited? I know already said Alaba Jonathan is in Israel and will need to settle in. But what of Oluehi. Dennerby invited Nnadozie from the Wafu team and Okeke.

Schemerkhiz:

It just one match, with time other midfielders will be brought in Ayinde, Nwabuoku, igbinovia and Okoronkwo.

Ngozi Okobi might be a little bit light weight but she is quite nimble and gets away from her markers pretty quickly, her size shouldn't count against her that much, her low center of gravity helps her game alot.

Schemerkhiz:

The midfielders there are versatile, expecially Captain Rita Chikwelu. She is a Strong and experienced player, who can play as a DMF, CMF, AMF.
By the way coach Thomas Dennerby will be playing the 4-4-2 formation with the Chikwelu and Okobi in the Middle. Oghonna Chukwudi or Esther Sunday been natural Left footers from Left, Fransisca Ordega or maybe Anam Imo from the Right. With Oparanozie, Dike or Umotong Upfront.

We are talking about top class football, not a match against Mali. Chikwelu was average at the nations cup because she is not a DMF and even if we are going in that direction, we should have at least brought along some subs for them.

Done Deal: Nigeria International Striker Gets New Rival At Washington Spirit




Nigeria international Francisca Ordega has a new rival at Washington Spirit with the National Women's Soccer League outfit confirming the capture of forward Mallory Eubanks on Thursday, March 29.

Eubanks will serve as national team replacement while midfielder Estefania Banini is away with the Argentina Women’s National Team competing in the Copa America Feminina.

Teams can add players to their rosters through ten mechanisms, including distribution process, trades, discovery, short term injury and national team player replacement.

Banini will remain on the books of Washington Spirit until the end of the Copa America Feminina, which will hold in Chile 4-22 April, 2018.

Ordega is not guaranteed a starting spot at Washington Spirit with only eight starts from a possible 24 over the course of the 2017 campaign, while she came off the bench in the opening match of the new season.

The Gboko native is among five strikers manager Thomas Dennerby has named in a 17-player list for the friendly against France at the Stade MMArena in the city of Le Mans next Friday.
The 24-year-old Ordega will report for international duty on April 3.


**Igho Kingsley
Photo Credit : washingtonspirit.com

Source: http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=27159

Opinion: FIFA Ranking Is Disputable But Africa’s Inactivity Shows It’s Spot On
By Ijeoma Okigbo


Africa’s inability to make the top 20 of Fifa’s quarterly women’s World Ranking since its inception in 2003, is a source of concern for women’s football enthusiasts across the continent.

In its most recent rankings released on 23 March, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania were not included.

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After being left out in the previous rankings in December, football powerhouse, Cote d’Iviore, along with Morocco, Senegal and Burkina Faso also made the March rankings.

Despite dropping one spot from 37th to 38th position, the Nigerian national team, Super Falcons, maintained their grip as Africa’s undisputed leader being the top-ranked side – again!

Such is the Falcons’ dominance that they have not relinquished that lead on the table in 15 years.

Nigeria’s dominance on the continent regardless, African teams still wallow at the bottom of the rankings. For instance, the best position any country in the continent has obtained remains the 23rd place, ostensibly coveted by the Super Falcons in 2003.

Maureen Mmadu, Nigeria’s Super Falcons Assistant Coach, blamed the abysmal rankings of African sides on the retrogression and docile nature of most national teams, which sees them ignore FIFA friendly match windows.


After the Lights, Camera, there’s simply no Action!

According to her, it is not enough to wait for either continental or FIFA tournaments to engage the players.

“This lack of playing times and general inactivity of national teams on the continent have been the bane of women’s football.

“European teams play a lot more quality friendlies and engage their teams in competitions than we do in Africa and that is why we are nowhere to be found among the top 30.

“This means that the Football Associations need to do more to promote the women’s football in the highest level,” she said.


On her part, Doreen Nabwire, competitions officer with the Kenyan Women’s League, believes the absence of league football in some countries would perpetually dwarf the continent in the rankings.

“In as much as the FAs are striving to improve their league structures, it is still necessary for them to organize good quality competitions capable of enhancing their countries’ ranking on the FIFA list. It is even more unfortunate that some African countries still do not have women’s football league.

“They simply assemble teams once in a while when there is a major tournament. It would also help if FAs introduce second-tier leagues and not focus on the top league alone,” she said.

Furthermore, it’s essential for FAs and regional associations on the continent to come together and chart a development course for women’s football because these decision makers have a huge role to play if Africa is to improve her game.

Many African countries only look forward to the biennial African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON), after which they are inactive and remain so.

A notable example is the Super Falcons, who, after clinching a record eighth AWCON title in 2016, did not attempt even a kickabout until last month when the West African Football Union (WAFU) women’s tournament was introduced and staged in Cote d’Ivoire.

In other words, after the ‘Lights’ and ‘Camera’, there’s simply no ‘Action’!

Team manager, Nabwire, who led the Harambee Starlets of Kenya to their first outing at the AWCON 2016, expressed frustration that the team could only look forward to another showpiece in Ghana between November and December of 2018.

“So far we only look forward to AWCON which comes once in two years. This leaves most senior national teams inactive for over 12 months.

“For instance, after the Starlets bowed out of AWCON, we had nothing else to look forward to. So we were inactive until September when we landed the invite to the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) tournament as a guest nation.

“Regional tournaments like WAFU, COSAFA and Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) should be encouraged,” Nabwire, who doubles as a Women Development Officer, added.

Football experts and fans alike have dropped at the door of administrators, majority of the blame. Their lukewarm approach sees an almost definite drama of late preparation and walkovers in tournaments they’ve gotten briefs on, at least months or years ago.

It’s not enough to honour FIFA windows to improve the rankings but that must be done with utmost professionalism as just participation in those matches provides a sense of growth, togetherness and even benefts these players as they seek their daily bread.

Jean Sseninde, a Ugandan and Crystal Palace Ladies player, believes that inadequate preparations ahead of tournaments could keep Africa invisible at the world stage.

“Of course, late preparations are never good. You can see with everything we do in life regardless of what it is, all starts with preparations.

“If teams don’t participate as expected because of late preparations, we risk the possibility of permanently staying bottom in the FIFA rankings,” she said.

Having played for German side Werder Bremen, Nabwire strongly believes that funding acts as a limitation in the actualisation of women’s football projects on the continent.

The former midfielder wants FIFA and CAF to put in more grants for the FAs to develop the game in Africa as attention should not be solely on the men; in terms of salary, grassroot development, competitions and more.
She also called on the various football associations to source for sponsors on their won which will mean, making the women’s game an attractive brand to leverage upon.

In all these, a deliberate positive action needs to be in place to salvage Africa’s heroines if not, as the statistical arguments rages on about the numbers and positions on FIFA rankings, Africa will keep making a strong case that the world’s most powerful Sports organisation gets it right -oftentimes.


Source: http://ladiesmarch.com/2018/03/opinion-fifa-ranking-is-disputable-but-africas-inactivity-shows-its-spot-on/

TheSuperNerd:
I know of Chikwelu's versatility but it is not enough. That midfield pair of Okobi and Chikwelu still looks lightweight to me. When I saw the 17-woman list, I was really asking myself, "Where are the natural DMs?"

France has so much power in the middle. I really Dont wamt to see our girls get overrun.

Please name a pair of midfield who are heavyweight and better than Okobi and Chikwelu from Nigeria?

DerideGull:


Please name a pair of midfield who are heavyweight and better than Okobi and Chikwelu from Nigeria?

He is talking of a defensive midfielder like Ayinde and maybe Onyebuchi Goodness.

Lol.... Understand before you quote next time. You don't go to a game against the French with two primarily attack-minded central midfield players. There must be a natural DM to provide that steel too. Tu comprends?

DerideGull:


Please name a pair of midfield who are heavyweight and better than Okobi and Chikwelu from Nigeria?

Daejoyoung:

He is talking of a defensive midfielder like Ayinde and maybe Onyebuchi Goodness.

Halimatu Ayinde is not a DMF, she is a center Midfielder and can also play as an attacking Midfielder.. Onyebuchi Goodness is a kid at this stage, her time will come and based on Merit you can't pick her ahead of Evelyn Nwabuoku, Osarenoma Igbinovia, Amarachi Okoronkwo, Onyinyechi Ohadugha.

I hardly comment nowadays but based on this he said, I will voice out. When I saw the team list for the France friendly, I was shocked to my marrow by 3 major omissions. First omission is in the goal keeping department, we (Super Falcons) have well seasoned goalkeepers like Tochukwu Oluehi, Alaba Jonathan and CeeCee Ohiaeriaku who all played at top level so why bring in these young prodigies in the goal keeping department. Remember France is ranked 5th in the latest FIFA ranking in international women foot ball and though a friendly, we must carry our most experience keepets. I am not writing off Onyinyechukwu Okeke (19yrs) and Chiamaka Nnadozie (17yrs) but it is not their time yet to play on the biggest stage as they are still developing.

The second omission is our commander in chief maestro and inspirational Rasheedat Ajibade. Why do I suspect that age and experience is what were the criteria for her not to be picked.? She is a born poacher and passer of the ball, I liken Ajibade to a Messi. Even if she does not start up in the first XI team list, she should at least make the substitutes for Coach Thomas list. I have been keenly following Ajibade 's football for over 5 years now and I can vouch for her that is a a bunch of talent with a knack for breaking down any dogged defend any day, anytime to bang in goals.

Last omission is Super Zee Oshoala. One is the best things to come out of Nigeria in over a decade. But HEY!! Even if she is omitted, she has nothing to prove to anyone that she is Africa"s prodigy as far as world football is concerned.

On a lighter note, Super Falcons manager, Coach Thomas knows what kind of football he wants to play, he knows the kind of players from the pool of footballers he want to use to execute it. So, I will respect his team selection and wish my darling Super Falcons in the friendly match in France

Ubong Bassey(BizzySports) signing out... 1luv

From NFF women football whatsapp group.

Glad to see Courtney dike is back

Picking a 17yrs old Goalkeeper ahead of Experience and first choice Tochukwu Oluehi and Alaba Jonathan
What baffled me was that Tochukwu and Nnadozie are from same club with Tochi being the 1st Choice, John 2nd Choice, Nnadozie 3rd Choice.
Then how come you pick a 3rd Choice ahead of 1st Choice.. NFF we are watching.

Schemerkhiz:
Picking a 17yrs old Goalkeeper ahead of Experience and first choice Tochukwu Oluehi and Alaba Jonathan
What baffled me was that Tochukwu and Nnadozie are from same club with Tochi being the 1st Choice, John 2nd Choice, Nnadozie 3rd Choice.
Then how come you pick a 3rd Choice ahead of 1st Choice.. NFF we are watching.

the coach was impressed with her during the wafu cup ,if she impress again in the France friendly she could become the no 1 no matter her age

Daejoyoung:

He is talking of a defensive midfielder like Ayinde and maybe Onyebuchi Goodness.

ayinde is not a defensive midfielder

enomakos:
ayinde is not a defensive midfielder

l thought she played that role at the last AWCON. Well if that's the case then it means we don't have too many quality defensive midfielders.

my problem with the list is why only 17 players?what if 3 or 4 players get injured?

Daejoyoung:

l thought she played that role at the last AWCON. Well if that's the case then it means we don't have too many quality defensive midfielders.

we have ,most were not invited

enomakos:
we have ,most were not invited

like

Daejoyoung:

like

igbinovia and nwabuoku for example

enomakos:
igbinovia and nwabuoku for example

I don't think lgbinovia impressed Dennerby enough at the WAFU cup.
Never can tell if Nwabuoku is as good as she used to be in 2014.
My only concern is in the goal keeping section.

Daejoyoung:

I don't think lgbinovia impressed Dennerby enough at the WAFU cup.
Never can tell if Nwabuoku is as good as she used to be in 2014.
My only concern is in the goal keeping section.

Osarenoma Igbinovia on a good day is a quality player, her defense splitting pass can't be kept aside. She is a quality player.

Evelyn Nwabuoku is still the Best we can lay hands on in the defensive Midfield duty, she does the dirty jobs in the Midfield that others shy away from and can still find teammate with passes even when under pressure . The injury she sustained before the 2016 AWCON really affected her but she is better now.

Daejoyoung:
like

Evelyn Nwabuoku, Osarenoma Igbinovia, Onyinyechi Ohadugha.

enomakos:
the coach was impressed with her during the wafu cup ,if she impress again in the France friendly she could become the no 1 no matter her age

Truth be told Chiamaka Nnadozie is currently the best U20 Goalie we currently have but she is not yet and in class of Tochukwu Oluehi who has being to 2 senior women world Cup,Olympic, played in the UEFA Women Chapions League, AWCON and Alaba Jonathan.

Schemerkhiz:

Truth be told Chiamaka Nnadozie is currently the best U20 Goalie we currently have but she is not yet and in class of Tochukwu Oluehi who has being to 2 senior women world Cup,Olympic, played in the UEFA Women Chapions League, AWCON and Alaba Jonathan.

i believe oluehi will be invited for the awcon qualifier

Daejoyoung:

I don't think lgbinovia impressed Dennerby enough at the WAFU cup.
Never can tell if Nwabuoku is as good as she used to be in 2014.
My only concern is in the goal keeping section.

the two young goalie invited are not that bad plus it is just a friendly, it will be a learning experience for the girls

Daejoyoung:

He is talking of a defensive midfielder like Ayinde and maybe Onyebuchi Goodness.

Do you honestly think that Ayinde and Onyebuchi are in the class with Okobi and Chikwelu?

Schemerkhiz:

Halimatu Ayinde is not a DMF, she is a center Midfielder and can also play as an attacking Midfielder.. Onyebuchi Goodness is a kid at this stage, her time will come and based on Merit you can't pick her ahead of Evelyn Nwabuoku, Osarenoma Igbinovia, Amarachi Okoronkwo, Onyinyechi Ohadugha.

Bros do not pay mind to Nigerians and their hidden agenda. I had wanted the TheSuperNerd to name the heavyweight midfielders better than Chikwelu and Okobi but he/she kept writing about technicalities. If there are DMF missing on the list, they are Osarenoma Igbinovia and Tessy Biahwo.