As preparation for the Aisha Buhari Invitation Tournament hits top gear in the camp of the Super Falcons in Austria, Coach of the West African side, Randy Waldrum says he’s delighted to have the trio of Desire Oparanozie, Chiamaka Nnadozie, and Ngozi Okobi back in his team.
Recall that Oparanozie was axed from the team in 2019, following her alleged role in the team staging a sit-in protest in Grenoble, after a 3-0 Round of 16 loss to Germany in France.
The incident had caused her to fall out of favor with the authorities under coach Thomas Dennerby.
Meanwhile, the duo of Chiamaka Nnadozie and Ngozi Okobi was absent due to club commitments during Falcons four-nation tournament in Turkey.
In a chat with Super Falcon’s media officer, Waldrum stated that the trio would have made lots of contributions to the team if they were with them in Turkey and against the United States In Texas.
“The new players that just joined were fantastic. We have tried to get all three of them (Desire Oparanozie, Ngozi Okobi, and Chiamaka Nnadozie) for a while now. We haven’t been able to for some reason. We can see the successes they had and now seeing them, one can see the qualities they possess.”
“I wished we had them in Texas against the US but it allowed us to see some younger players. Adding those veteran players that have got leadership qualities on the field can’t be replaced. They have been a great addition,” Waldrum added.
The Super Falcons will square up with Ghana’s Black Queens, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses, Banyana Banyana of South Africa, Morocco and Mali in the six-nation tournament in Lagos.