Captain of Nigeria’s Super Falcons, Onome Ebi has urged her teammates to keep their recent good form as they face New Zealand in their second international friendly in Turkey on Tuesday.
Ebi, 39, led the Falcons to a 2-1 win over World Cup debutants Haiti at the Emir Sports Complex in Antalya on Friday, securing the team’s second consecutive win after ending a poor run of losses.
The Abia Angels star says the team must now keep up this good form as they count down to the World Cup tournament in the summer.
“We have to maintain the form that we have attained over the past two matches. It is important for us to keep up the momentum, to keep winning and know that we can always overwhelm our opponents. The spirit is back and we are determined to sustain it,” Onome Ebi was quoted as saying to the NFF website.
GEARING UP! ⚙️
— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) April 10, 2023
Our last training session at Emir Sports Complex in Antalya 📍 for New Zealandclash on Tuesday #SoarSuperFalcons| #NGANZL #FIFAWWCprep| #TeamNigeria| pic.twitter.com/ktTpeSAOMm
Goals by Esther Okoronkwo and Asisat Oshoala steered the nine-time African champions past Haiti in Antalya on Thursday, for a second consecutive win on the road.
This came after the 1-0 defeat of Costa Rica at the Revelation Cup Tournament in Mexico, the goal also coming off the boot of Esther Okoronkwo.
The Super Falcons, coached by the much criticised Randy Waldrum will next square up with 2023 World Cup co-host New Zealand on Tuesday afternoon at the Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya starting from 2pm Nigerian time.
Nigeria are drawn in Group B of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside co-hosts Australia, Olympics champion Canada and Republic of Ireland.
Why does she need to urge them publicly ? Is she not a member of the team ?