Super Falcons Target Ninth Title As They Face Banyana Banyana In Epic Final
Defending champions, the Super Falcons of Nigeria will seek to win a record ninth Africa Women’s Nations Cup crown when they face the Banyana Banyana of South Africa in the AWCON 2018 final at the Accra Sports Stadium today (Saturday).
The Super Falcons edged Cameroon 4-2 on penalties to reach this stage, while Banyana Banyana dismissed Mali 2-0 in the second semi-final match.
Although both teams have qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, both would be hoping to attend the global soccer fiesta as African Queens – AWCON 2018 champions.
It is the second time both countries will be meeting in the AWCON 2018 tournament. The Banyana Banyana won their Group B clash 11-0 14 days ago.
The Super Falcons recovered from that shocking defeat to record impressive wins over the Shepolopolo of Zambia, Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea and the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon. And now they are eager to to end their AWCON 2018 campaign with a flourish by bagging Nigeria’s nineth title in the history to the tournament.
Handler of the side, Thomas Dennerby insists his team is well motivated for the AWCON final showdown and is confident they will emerge winners at the end of the day.
“If you have a big tournament final, you’ll be so motivated in a way. Of course we want to win the game – definitely,” Dennerby told reporters of his team’s morale ahead the AWCON 2018 final.
“I know players are all motivated, so I think they’ll have a really good performance tomorrow (today -Saturday) – hopefully and definitely better than the first one.
Dennerby will hope the likes of Asisat Oshoala, Desire Oparanozie, Francisca and Ngozi Okobi who have been the leading lights for the Super Falcons in this competition hit top form against the South Africans.
One player, the Nigerian defence need to be wary of is Chrestina Thembi Kgatlana who has bagged five goals so far and is currently the AWCON 2018 top scorer.
Kgatlana also scored the winning goal when both teams clashed in the group stage.
This is the fourth time South Africa will be paying in the final of the Africa’s flagship women’s football tournament, and Desiree Ellis and her charges will be seeking to make history by winning the ultimate title after achieving qualification for the 2019 World Cup in France.
In their three previous AWCON finals appearances, South Africa lost to Nigeria in 2000, before suffering defeats to Equatorial Guinea in 2008 and four years later.
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