2024 Paris Olympics: Oshoala, Ajibade Score In Super Falcons 4-0 Battering Of Ethiopia
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – After painfully missing out on two successive Olympic Games in 2016 and 2020, Nigeria’s Super Falcons on Tuesday look set to change the narrative as they made it to the next round of the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification with a 4-0 drubbing of visiting Ethiopia inside the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
The victory saw the Falcons progress on a 5-1 aggregate following their one-all draw with the ‘Lucy’ in the first-leg encounter played in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital last Wednesday.
In the second leg match in Abuja on Tuesday, the Super Falcons were wasteful in front of goal and failed to convert the numerous opportunities that came their way early in the game. However, the deadlock was broken by Uchenna Kanu who found the back of the net on the stroke of half-time.
The Nigerian women doubled their lead through Atletico Madrid striker, Rasheedat Ajibade five minutes after the resumption of play after being set up by FC Barcelona’s forward, Asisast Oshoala from the right wing. It was the turn of Oshoala to have her name on the scorers’ sheet as she slammed home the third goal for Nigeria in the 68th minute after turning in Kanu’s inventive cross to beat the Ethiopian Keeper.
Interestingly, the Barca striker turned provider once again, setting up Ajibade for her second goal in the 72nd minute to give the Nigerian Ladies a comfortable 4-0 victory.
In the first leg outing, the nine-time African champions came from a goal down to stalemate proceedings after Rasheedat Ajibade’s long-range effort cancelled Birkie Amare’s early goal in the thrilling match.
The victory has now put the Senior female national team on course for the global sporting carnival in Paris next year having been conspicuously absent in the last two Olympic Games in which they were beaten by Equatorial Guinea in the 2015 qualifying series and Côte d’Ivoire in the 2019 qualifiers.
