Super Falcons striker, Desire Oparanozie has revealed that the defending champions are under no pressure whatsoever ahead of their crucial semi-final clash against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon at the ongoing Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) in Ghana.
Speaking during an interview this evening, the Super Falcons forward said: “we are not under any kind of pressure. We are the champions so we are calm. I’m sure they are the ones tensed and will want to prove themselves against us but we are good and everybody is in good shape; mentally and physically ready for tomorrow,”
After failing to bury the only major chance the Super Falcons created against South Africa, the Avant De Guingamp forward has now scored in the last two games against Zambia and Equatorial Guinea. With such a crucial game against Cameroon coming up, the France based striker agrees that she’s finally getting into the her stride in the tournament and at the right time too.
“Having scored two goals in the last three games I think it’s a good motivation and morale booster for me getting to a game of this nature,” Oparanozie said.
“So I believe with the level of confidence I have in myself and the team, tomorrow hopefully I’ll be able to hit the back of the net. But even if I don’t score I can help others score. So it’s more about the team than an individual player,” she added.
Talking about how she intends to cope with the physicality of the Cameroonians she said: “football is not a wrestling game. I’ll go out there tomorrow to look for the round leather. So whatever they choose to do is up to them but I’ll go out there to play football.”
She concluded by saying she is aware that the Cameroonians will be out for revenge and having scored the only goal which saw Nigeria lift her eighth AWCON title against Cameroon in 2016 in Yaounde, “we know what to expect from them tomorrow but our main objective is the World Cup ticket first. We know what is at stake and we will go all out to get the ticket.”
