Fierce Rivals Fight for Olympic TicketToday

Following a goalless draw in Douala in the first leg of the penultimate round of the African qualifying series for this year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, Nigeria and Cameroon will come up against each other at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja today.

Randy Waldrum took charge of the Super Falcons for the first time since their World Cup outing last year in Australia and New Zealand and he returned to the team alongside Ashleigh Plumptre, who also last featured for the Falcons at the World Cup.

Despite the return of the two to the team, the Falcons were a bit off the colour at the Stade de la Reunification in Douala on Friday as they were forced to a goalless draw by the Lionesses in Cameroon.

With the second leg set to take place today in Abuja, the Falcons will hope to leave no stone unturned in their quest for Olympic qualification.

Speaking ahead of the game, the American tactician said he was not afraid of the Cameroonians.

“We’re not afraid to lose. We don’t fear anybody and I’m not afraid, Waldrum said.

“My mind as the manager of the squad doesn’t think of what if we lose because we always play to win.

“That thought is not even in my mind”, he added.

Waldrum also revealed that his team would be ready to go to penalties if the game should go into extra time.

He added, “We played the European champions (England) to penalty kicks in the World Cup and held the Olympic gold medalist (Canada) to a draw at the World Cup, we got a victory over Australia. We can play with the best teams in the world.

“I give credit to Cameroon for the job they did. But there is no fear on our part.”

Since featuring at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Falcons have failed in all their subsequent efforts to play in successive editions of the Olympic Games.

Fully aware it was the Indomitable Lionesses that stopped their march to the London 2012 Olympics, the Falcons will be wary of a repeat as they seek to make it to Paris 2024.

The winners of Monday’s clash will take on the overall winners between South Africa and Tanzania for a place at the Paris Olympics this summer.

South Africa took a huge advantage going into the second leg after they won 3-0 in Tanzania Friday.