Head coach of Nigeria’s senior women national team, Florence Omagbemi, has warned his players not to underrate any opponent at this year’s Africa Women Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Omagbemi said: “We have been playing against Ghana’s Black Queens for years.
“I remember when the Falcons were newly formed, our first game in the qualification series for the 1991 Women’s World Cup was against Ghana. “We have played against Mali before, and we know they are no pushovers. Now, Kenya are coming to the African championship for the first time, but from the way they qualified, after beating Algeria, they must be respected.
“Surely, we will take the games against all three countries as seriously as we have been doing in the past. You know, we are the cup holders and every team would want to beat the Falcons.”
Nigeria, who are the defending champions, will begin their tournament against Mali on November 20. Their next game will be against the Black Queens three days later, before they take on debutants Kenya on November 26.
“This is year 2016. A number of teams on the African continent have improved and we cannot afford to look down on any team,” Omagbemi added.
“For instance, South Africa and Zimbabwe qualified for and played at the Olympics in Brazil, at which we were absent. They gained valuable experience.
“Coming back to our group, we just have to keep a level head. The Black Queens of Ghana are very good and we must be ready for them. But we have no reason to fear any team. We are the champions of Africa. All we need to do is to prepare hard and go to Cameroon to defend our title.”
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