• Falconets go goalwire in Dar Es Salam
  • NFF board marks three years in office

By George Aluo

Nigeria’s U-20 women national team, the Falconets made it a special Independence Day celebration for Nigerians yesterday in Dar Es Salam Tanzania.
The girls were simply ruthless as they hammered their hosts beating them 6-0 to qualify 9-0 on aggregate for the second round of the race to the U-20 Women’s World Cup billed for next year in France.
The Falconets had a fortnight ago recorded a 3-0 victory in the first leg decided at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.
Rasheeedat Ajibade was the one that fired the first salvo with her 20th minute strike. She went ahead to score again in the 25th minute. Florence Ijamilusi made it three for Nigeria in the 35th minute, while Anamorphic Imo banged in the fourthly in the 38th minute. The completely demoralized Tanzanian girls returned in the second half to put up little or no resistance, even as the Falconets banged in two more goals to put final scores at 6-0.
Meanwhile the victory came at a time the incumbent NFF board also rolled out the drums to celebrate their third year in office.
The committee which was elected into office on 30th September 2014, in Warri was brought together in an atmosphere of panache, warmth and laughter with celebration in the house of a principal figure in the Committee in Lagos.
In three years, Pinnick’s Board has won six major trophies, including the FIFA U17 World Cup, two Women AFCON titles and the Africa U23 and Africa U20 men titles, plus Olympic men’s football bronze. There have also been capacity building programs for referees, coaches and administrators, extensive support for FIFA and CAF –sanctioned coaching license and referee courses, credible partnership agreements with leading corporates and a ringing voice and presence for Nigeria in international football politics.
Failure to qualify for successive AFCON finals in 2015 and 2017 and the U20 and U17 AFCON this year have been hard punches on the field of play, but Pinnick insists the Board’s vision of building a sustainable football culture and hard focus on youth development remain unshaken.
Election into the CAF Executive Committee, preceeded by appointment into the influential Organizing Committee for FIFA Competitions and followed by appointments into the CAF Emergency Committee and as President of AFCON, have amounted to a meteoric rise that has made Pinnick the highest –placed Nigerian football official in history.
Yet, the former Executive Chairman of Delta State Sports Commission told thenff.com that the Board is not rolling out the drums yet, but working hard to ensure no stone is left unturned for eventual victory in Saturday’s all –important 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying showdown between the Super Eagles and Zambia’s Chipolopolo in Uyo. A win will see Nigeria book a ticket to football’s greatest showpiece in Russia next year summer.
“Every Board of the NFF has opportunity to qualify for the FIFA World Cup only once, as it happens every four years and the life of any Board is four years. We are so close to getting it and that is our big focus for now. All the drumming, singing and back –slapping can wait until the evening of Saturday.”