The delegations of U-23 national team of Congo and Equatorial Guinea’s senior women national team to this weekend’s important qualifying matches against Nigerian teams will arrive in the country on Friday.
An official of the Equatorial Guinea football federation confirmed on Wednesday that the delegation would travel to Nigeria’s federal capital aboard a chartered flight.
Further information has now been made available to the Nigeria Football Federation by the Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in Abuja that the delegation, which will be led by that country’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Andres Jorge Mbomio Nsem Abua, will be made up of an official delegation of 45 persons, to be accompanied by 100 supporters. The team’s aircraft will land by 2pm on Friday.
Similarly, the Congolese football federation simply announced that its U-23 squad would be in Port Harcourt on Friday evening, without giving further details.
The skeletal information that has been provided came only after the NFF competitions department wrote to FIFA and CAF to complain about being kept in the dark by the opponents.
The Super Falcons will welcome their counterparts from Equatorial Guinea to an African third round, first leg qualifier for the Women’s Football Tournament of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A tough game is at hand at the National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday as the girls from Equatorial Guinea consider themselves to be Falcons’ only substantial rivals in Africa – Equatorial Guinea has won two African Women Championship titles, to Falcons’ seven, in the nine championships held so far.
Congo’s U-23 boys will face the Nigeria U-23 team in a final round, first leg qualifier for the 2nd African U-23 Championship, coming up in Senegal in December this year. Africa’s three flagbearers for the Men’s Football Tournament of next year’s Olympics will emerge at the tournament in Senegal, with a fourth to play-off against a team from Asia.
Siasia’s wards also expect a tough match against Congo, which eliminated Ghana’s Black Meteors in the last round and is coached by experienced Frenchman, Claude LeRoy.