Super Falcons defender Glory Ogbonna has stressed that Nigeria is ready to face reigning Olympics champions, Canada in the opening stage of the 2023 Women’s World.
At 03:30 on Friday, July 21, the Super Falcons of Nigeria will face Canada at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Australia in what is seen as a must-win match if they want to stand a chance of progressing in the tournament which is co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Interestingly, Australia, the co-host are also in Nigeria’s group alongside the Republic of Ireland which makes Group B a tough one for the Super Falcons.
Despite that, Glory Ogbonna who just joined the Super Falcons from the Under-20 team believes that the Nigerian team has all it takes to do well in the tournament.
She revealed that there is a “positive vibe” in their Brisbane camp and the players have the zeal to make their compatriots back home proud by doing well against Canada on Friday.
“Talking about our first game against Canada, we are ready, very very ready, of course. We’ve been preparing, training hard for this first game”, Ogbonna told Punch.
She added, “Of course, we know Canada are the Olympic champions but I tell you, ‘we are also a good side.’ If you talk about individual players, we have them. And combining these players into a team, that makes us unique. So, we have all it takes and are fully ready; collectively, and individually, we are fully ready for the first game.
“The vibe here in our camp in Brisbane is very positive, everybody here is positive of a good result. We are not jittery, we are all set. We’ve been training, we’ve been working hard, so we are just waiting for that day to come, and we can’t even wait anymore. Come Friday, we are going all out to give our best and make our country proud.”
After the clash between the Super Falcons and Canada on Friday, the Nigerian team will face the co-host, Australia, on Thursday, July 27, and then the Republic of Ireland on Monday, July 31.
