NAMIBIA 2014: Falcons swoop on Lionesses for AWC trophy

It is revenge time as Super Falcons of Nigeria swoop on the Indomitable Lioness of Cameroon to extract their pound of flesh and fight for their 7th Afri­can Women Champion­ship trophy.

Already, the die is caste and the venue, Sam Nujo­ma Stadium in Windhoek, Namibia, is set to witness the explosion of female fury as both arch rivals battle for the ultimate prize and pride of ruling Africa.
Nigeria has always soared high over their West African neighbors at all the editions of the tournament except at the last edition held in 2012 in Equatorial Guinea where Cameroon edged them out of the third place consolation spot by a lone goal.
Okon said his side are angry as well as hungry and will certainly punish their West African sisters for the 2012 AWC third place defeat in Equatorial Guinea.
“We’re angry, hungry and won’t allow ourselves to be beaten twice by Cam­eroon .We want to reclaim the AWC title we lost to Equatorial Guinea in 2012 and head to the World Cup as champions.
“We have achieved a 100 per cent record in the tour­nament but the tie against Cameroon is the most cru­cial game; we must win to re-establish our superiority in Africa.
“The players are 100 per cent in shape and raring to punish them for our last championship loss,” said Okon.
High flying Falcons, got to this last stage with un­blemished records and will enter into today’s epic en­counter with chants of re­venge on their lips, aiming to punish the Indomitable Lionesses who braved the odds to reach the final of the biennial tournament for the first time since it started in 1998.
This is the first time both countries will lock horns in the AWC final and his­tory favors Falcons as six time record holders of the tournament to come out victorious.In2006 , Nigeria bashed Cameroon 5-0 in the semi finals with Peper­tua Nkwocha netting a hat trick.
The same scenario played out in 2010 in South Africa and the Nigerian girls did not waste time in sending the old foes pack­ing with another resound­ing 5-1 win that recorded another hat trick perfor­mance from Nkwocha.
During the maiden edi­tion of the tournament in 1998 semi finals, the score line was Nigeria 6- Cam­eroon 0 and the trend con­tinued to 2000 and the girls from Isa Hayatou’s country were no match for Nigeria as they succumbed 3-0.
Having made it to the final today, Nigeria and Cameroon have earned their tickets to the Canada 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup , however what is at stake in this epic clash, is who leads the rest of Afri­can ladies to the mundial next year.