Nine-time African champions and FIFA World Cup ever-present Nigeria will take on the Senior Women National Team of Japan in a prestigious international friendly match at the Noevir Stadium, Kobe on Oct. 6.
The date is within one of the FIFA Women International Windows for this year.
Nadeshiko Japan, which is the alias of the Women National Team of Japan, are rated 13th in the world, while the Super Falcons are 39th.
Both teams have clashed only once at competitive level – at the 2004 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament.
Nadeshiko pipped the Falcons 1-0 at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus on Aug. 14, 2004.
Two back-to-back friendlies in 2013 were won 2-0 each by Nadeshiko.
Japan’s entertaining girls won the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2011, beating Team USA in a pulsating penalty shoot-out after regulation time ended 2-2.
Nadeshiko thus became the first team from Asia to win a senior FIFA World Cup trophy.
The Super Falcons are perennial champions of the African continent and have participated at every FIFA Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 1991, reaching the quarter finals in 1999.
WAFU B U17: Eaglets go for broke against Junior Elephants in semi final clash
Head Coach Nduka Ugbade has assured that Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets will go all out against their Ivorian counterparts in Tuesday’s first semi final match of the ongoing WAFU B U17 Championship in Cape Coast, Ghana.
Both teams take to the pitch of the 15,000 –capacity facility at 3pm Ghana time (4pm Nigeria time) before the second semi final between hosts Ghana and Burkina Faso at the same venue.
“The match against Cote d’Ivoire is of high importance to us. In fact, I have reminded the players that this one is the biggest match of their lives. They must win to secure a ticket to the U17 Africa Cup of Nations, and from there to the U17 World Cup, and from there to several opportunities and possibilities.
“Whatever we have done here (beating Ghana and Togo) will not mean much if we don’t go all out and grab our ticket to the AFCON and to the Final. We will throw everything into the fray.”
The Eaglets, five-time world champions, decimated Ghana’s Black Starlets 4-2 in the tournament opener and then eased past Togo’s Young Sparrowhawks 3-1 to finish as Group A winners. The Ivorians finished as runners-up of Group B, dominated by Burkina Faso’s Young Etalons.
Victory in Tuesday’s encounter will send the Eaglets into the Final and with an opportunity to reclaim the WAFU B U17 title they won in Niamey, Niger Republic four years ago. It also provides the Nigerian youngsters a revenge platform against the Ivorians, who defeated them in the Final of the same competition in Lome early last year. Both Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire qualified for the Africa U17 Cup of Nations from that tournament but the event was cancelled as hosts Morocco developed cold feet with the covid-19 pandemic still biting in some countries.
Meanwhile, President of the Ghana Football Association, Simeon Kurt-Okraku on Sunday visited the camp of the Golden Eaglets in his capacity as President of WAFU B region. He reminded the lads that Nigeria belongs to the top echelon of football –playing nations on the African continent, and has produced so many world –class players. He charged the boys to always adhere to the instructions of their coaches in order to grow, advance and excel in the beautiful game.
