Victorious Super Falcons Arrive State House
The Super Falcons of Nigeria have arrived at the State House, Abuja, where they will be hosted by President Bola Tinubu.
They landed in Nigeria from Morocco, where they clinched a 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title.
The team arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja aboard a chattered flight at about 2:26 p.m.
The team received a rousing welcome from fans and government officials, some of whom had waited at the airport for hours to receive their heroines.
Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris; Minister of Culture and Tourism, Hanatu Musawa; and the Minister for Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, were among the government officials who welcomed the team on arrival.
They are expected to have a victory parade with the WAFCON trophy in an open bus across the streets of Abuja.
The Falcons made history on Saturday, coming from two goals down to defeat host country Morocco 3-2 to make it 10 wins in 10 WAFCON finals.
The victory did not come easily for the Nigerian ladies, as the Moroccans drew first blood in the 13th minute after a loose ball broke kindly for the tournament’s top scorer, Ghizlane Chebbak, who did the rest by powering her effort past Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Then in the 28th minute, Mssoudy received the ball on the left edge of the box and drilled a low, left-footed shot to find the back of the net to make it two for the hosts, putting the Nigerians’ Mission X in great danger.
Both sides ended the first half with the scoreline at 2-0 in favour of Morocco.
But the Super Falcons refused to give up, resuming the second half with some renewed vigour as their pressing and passing became more intentional.
The relentless pressure, however, paid off for the Super Falcons in the 63rd minute after Ijamilusi hooked the ball back, and it struck the arm of Benzina.
Okoronkwo calmly found the back of the net to give Nigeria a glimmer of hope.
In the 71st minute, Okoronkwo paced down the right and cut into the area before calmly squaring for the better-placed Ijamilusi to tap home to make it all square.
Super Falcons later had their third in the 88th minute after a deep free kick found the outstretched foot of Echegini, who tapped the ball home from close range.
