Falcons play Australian club in pre-W’Cup friendly

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The Super Falcons will take on Australian club Queensland Lions FC in a friendly in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday as they continue their preparations for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which begins July 20.

It is the first warm-up match for coach Randy Waldrum’s side since they started camping for the global football fiesta last week.

Queensland Lions are currently fourth in the 16-team Australia National Premier League with 27 points from 16 matches. They won the league a record three times in 2018, 2020, and 2021.

The encounter is slated for the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre.

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The Falcons are lodged at the four-star Mercure Southport, Gold Coast in Australia, and have had different training sessions ahead of the tournament.

The nine-time African champions will face co-hosts Australia, reigning Olympic queens Canada, and the Republic of Ireland in Group B of the competition.

But as Randy Waldrum’s team continues their proud distinction of appearing at every edition of the competition since they first qualified for the inaugural tournament in 1991, reports of rows between the coach, players and the Nigeria Football Federation have rocked the team’s preparation.

The players planned a strike and boycott of their opening game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup against Canada July 21, after the General Secretary of the NFF Dr Mohammed Sanusi told them their match bonuses for the competition had been cancelled by the federation.

Also, head coach Waldrum was involved in a war of words with the NFF, questioning the financial commitment of the federation to the preparations of the team.

Amid all the drama, the team has set a target of surpassing their previous achievements at the World Cup. Nigeria have reached the knockout phase twice in 1999 and in 2019.

At USA 1999, they upset Korea DPR and Denmark before losing one of the greatest games in the competition’s history, with Sissi’s Golden Goal edging a seven-goal thriller for Brazil in the quarter-finals.

At France 2019, striker Asisat Oshoala inspired the Falcons to a 2-0 victory over Korea Republic to seal a round of 16 spot, where they lost 3-0 to Germany.

The 10th edition of the Women’s World Cup holds from July 20 to August 20.

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