In the wake of the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, a grand farewell dinner is being organized for the Super Falcons, Nigeria’s premier women’s football team. Among the dignitaries expected at the event is Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, along with high-ranking government officials.
This global football competition is set to span from July 20 to August 20. In a recent press release, Ademola Olajire, the Head of Communications of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), revealed that the dinner, which is being hosted by the NFF, will be held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on Saturday.
Other anticipated attendees include Ismaila Abubakar, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, and numerous top sports officials. A significant number of the team members, technical and administrative officials, and NFF executives led by the President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, and the General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, are expected to grace the event. Corporate leaders, diplomats, and various football stakeholders are also invited to the event.
The Super Falcons, Africa’s reigning champions, will then embark on a 15-day training camp in Australia before the commencement of the tournament. Their first match in the tournament will be against Canada at Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium on July 21. Subsequent matches against Australia and the Republic of Ireland are slated for July 27 and July 31 at Lang Park in Brisbane.
The upcoming tournament marks a historical moment for FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, as it will feature 32 teams, equivalent to the number featured in last year’s men’s finals in Qatar. This is also the first time a senior FIFA competition will be co-hosted by two countries from different confederations – Australia from Asia and New Zealand from Oceania.
Veteran player Onome Ebi will lead the Nigerian team. At 40, she will be one of the oldest players at the tournament, standing alongside Brazil’s Marta and Canada’s Christine Sinclair. Remarkably, these three women are each about to play in their sixth FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.
A day before the grand send-off at the Transcorp Hilton, the Super Falcons will also be hosted to a dinner by the Australian High Commission, courtesy of the Ag. High Commissioner, Her Excellency Leanne Johnston.
The Super Falcons, in Group ‘B’ of the tournament, will face off with Australia, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland. In previous World Cup encounters, Nigeria has successfully held its own against Canada but fell to Australia in the 2015 match.
