By Patrick Omorodion

Nigeria’s national senior women’s football team, the Super Falcons literally killed two birds with one stone in South Africa Thursday at the on-going 7th African Women’s Championship when they walloped their Cameroonian counterparts 5-1 in the first semi final of the competition.

They did not only qualify for the final of the African Women C

Falcons

hampionship where they will battle their 2008 foes, Equatorial Guinea but picked the first of the two tickets for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup holding in Germany

The victory which came via a goal apiece from Helen Ukaonu and Desire Oparanozie and a hat-trick from top scorer, Perpetua Nkwocha gave the Falcons both a ticket to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany and another for Sunday’s final against host, Equatorial Guinea, who picked the second World Cup ticket at the expense of the host, South Africa who they beat 3-1 in extra time.

The Falcons, Africa’s most successful women’s football team, lost their sparkle two years ago when Equatorial Guinea hosted the event, the first time it is going outside Nigeria and South Africa, and lost the title to the host, after winning the first five editions.

The Nigerian girls gave an inkling into what their intentions for Cameroon were when Nkwocha’s diving header off a low cross from Stella Mbachu in the first minute was too weak to beat goalkeeper Jumbone Julienne.

The much more bulky Cameroonians in the early minutes of the first half out-muscled the Falcons, earning some cautions in the process. One of the culprits who got sent off was Cathy Bou who got her first yellow card after fouling Oparanozie and the second after a clumsy tackle against Mbachu.

With a player sent off, the Cameroonians could no longer contain the forays of the Nigerians who swarmed their vital area like bees in search of the opener. This paid off in the 32nd minute when Ukaonu scored a world class goal from a corner kick direct into the net.
As the first half dragged to a close, Mbachu got a pass from the middle, ran down the right flank and floated a high ball which Oparanozie nodded beyond the Cameroonian for the second goal.

Two minutes into the second half, the Falcons were stunned by the Cameroonians who were bent on making up for the first half gaffe. They won a free kick around the centre circle, kicked directly into the Falcons’ goal area but goalkeeper Precious Dede rammed into her defenders, allowing Grace Ngock to head home and bring the scores to 2-1.

At this point, coach Eucharia Uche, making history as the only female coach in the competition, pulled out Ebere Orji for Esther Sunday to up the tempo for the Falcons upfront and keep the Cameroonian defenders on their toes.

Minutes later, Nkwocha got an easy one when goalkeeper Jumbone mistakenly kicked the ball to her and she did not miss target in the 58th minute for the first of her three goals. She was on target again in the 64th minute after Ukaonu passed to her after displacing the Cameroonian defenders and this took her haul to nine in the competition.

With 10 minutes left, Nwkocha broke loose again but she was brought down for a penalty which she converted to make the final scores 5-1 and her total haul to10 goals, five short of the target she gave herself before the commencement of the competition.

Coach Uche was elated after the match and said that she has achieved one of her targets, the World Cup ticket. The other is the trophy which she promised Nigerians she will reclaim after the disappointing outing for the team at the 2008 edition in Equatorial Guinea.

“I am very happy for the victory. The girls did exactly as I told them. With the World Cup ticket in our hands, I hope for a double when we play in the final on Sunday. We are ready for any of them (South Africa or Equatorial Guinea),” she said.

Mbachu who was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match differed with Uche on which team she prefers they meet in Sunday’s final. “I’ll prefer we meet Equatorial Guinea so we can revenge our defeat in their hands and tell them that we are the real champions of Africa,” she enthused.