Former Super Falcons coach Ismaila Mabo has urged the women’s national team to set a higher target at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, rather than just qualifying from their group. the punch reports.
Mabo’s statement comes after Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum declared that the team’s main goal in the upcoming 2023 Women’s World Cup was to advance from the group stage of the competition.
The biggest women’s soccer tournament is scheduled to take place in Australia and New Zealand in the summer.
The Falcons were disappointing at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco last year, failing to successfully defend their title, also failing to finish on the podium for the second time in the competition, after losing 1-0 to Zambia in the match for third place to finish in fourth place.
The Falcons are paired in Group B with Olympic champions Canada, co-hosts Australia and the Republic of Ireland and face the difficult task of making it out of the group stage.
While Waldrum has said that the goal is to progress from the group stage to the knockout stage, Mabo insists that reaching the tournament final should be the least of his expectations.
“Getting to the knockout stage shouldn’t be the main goal because that’s not something new for the country,” he said. the punch.
“The goal should be the semi-final and the final and that should also be Waldrum’s goal and not just think about getting past the group stage.
“We can’t be thinking like we have in the past because during my time and Paul Hamilton’s (as coaches), we could tell from our preparation that we could make it to the quarter-finals. So, it will be unacceptable for someone to tell the president of the federation and of the country that they will take the team to the round of 16 because that is not our problem as far as women’s football is concerned.
“We want to go further and reach the semifinal and the final and win the tournament.”
The Falcons will be based in Brisbane, where they will play two of their three games, the other being in another Australian city, Melbourne.
Nigeria is in the elite group of only seven countries that have never failed to qualify for the Women’s World Cup since the competition began in China 32 years ago.
