• As Falcons retain AWCON title
BY JOE APU
Super Falcons of Nigeria head coach on Saturday set a milestone as she emerged the first female to win the AWCON trophy as player and coach.
Omagbami achieved the feat as her team successfully defended their Africa Women Cup of Nations title defeating Cameroon 1-0 at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde leaving thousands of fans that thronged the stadium in tears.
Desire Oparanozie broke the hearts of the home fans most of who arrived the stadium as early as 7:00 am when she delivered the winner in the 84th minute despite the dominance of Cameroon.
The opening exchanges were all about the Cameroonians who attacked relentlessly with Gabrielle Onguene creating the first challenge for the Nigerian side when she skipped past three Nigerian players before shooting wide from inside the box.
Nigeria’s best chance in the opening minutes fell to Vittsjo GIK midfielder, Ngozi Okobi, who only fired over the bar on the turn.
Seven minutes to time, Onguene was played through on goal but she could only squeeze in a tame shot from a rather difficult angle without troubling Jonathan.
Within a minute and out of the blues, Oparanozie dragged the ball past her marker inside the box and then calmly fired it low beyond an outstretched Annette Ngo Ndom in Cameroon’s goal.
Nigeria saw off the added time to be crowned for a record eighth time as African champions.
Ghana secured bronze after beating South Africa in the third place match.
Defender Linda Eshun netted the only goal just after recess to ensure the Black Queens went home with some pride, after yet again failing to break the jinx as far as the ultimate at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is concerned.
It was the third time that the West Africans had finished third after 2000 and 2004, whilst the Banyana Banyana replicated their performance two years ago in Namibia.