Super Falcons winger, Jennifer Echegini, has warned their Paris 2024 Olympic Games opponents to be prepared for a tough test.
Randy Waldrum’s side faces a challenging group with world champions Spain, Brazil, and former world champions Japan. The West Africans are the lowest-ranked team in the group.
In that group, the Super Falcons are ranked 36th on the FIFA rankings, while Spain is number one, Japan is seventh, and Brazil is ninth.
However, the nine-time African champions have shown that rankings don’t necessarily matter. At the last FIFA Women’s World Cup, Nigeria was the lowest-ranked team in a group with Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Still, they qualified from the group without losing a game. PSG’s new signing Jennifer Echegini, who was part of that squad last year, is confident that the Super Falcons can replicate that kind of performance at the Olympics later this month.
Ahead of the games, the Super Falcons midfielder has stated that the team has more to offer than people think.
“I feel like as a Nigerian or any other African team, they underestimate our football ability and they just base us off strength and speed. It’s always ‘Oh they are strong and powerful,’ but we can also play,” Echegini, who recently joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain told Beats and Rhymes FM.
“I feel like a lot of times, teams don’t expect that, and they’ll be surprised when we start playing around them. I prefer if they don’t expect it because it makes things easier for us, but whenever I hear people talking about Nigeria, it’s always ‘strong’ or ‘fast,’ and I’m like, ‘We’re not just that, you know?’”
“A lot of us grew up playing the exact same way as those England girls or the Dutch girls, so it’s kind of funny when people say we’re just speed and strength. We went through the same process growing up; we just chose to represent the Nigerian team.”
The Super Falcons opened camp last week in Seville, Spain. Coach Randy Waldrum will be looking to perfect his tactics to ensure the team performs well in the Olympics.
Echegini, who recently joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain, told Beats and Rhymes FC. “It’s always ‘Oh they are strong and powerful,’ but we can also play.”
