Al Ittihad forward Francisca Ordega believes her experience will be valuable to the Super Falcons at the upcoming 2024 Women African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco as they aim to become African Champions for the 10th time.
Francisca Ordega is among four players in the current Super Falcons squad with WAFCON titles, alongside Osinachi Ohale, Rasheedat Ajibade, and Chiamaka Nnadozie. She won the tournament in 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018 where she earned the Woman of the Match award in the final against South Africa.
Since then, the Super Falcons have not won the trophy, as their 2022 campaign ended in the semifinals with a loss to hosts Morocco, followed by a defeat to Zambia in the third-place playoff.
Ordega last represented the Super Falcons at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, participating in two of the team’s four matches during the tournament.
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However, she has since returned to the national team fold, joining the Super Falcons’ camp ahead of their friendly against Cameroon which has been rescheduled to hold on Tuesday, June 3 at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex, Abeokuta.
Speaking ahead of the match, Ordega vowed to give her best and use her experience to help guide the younger players toward achieving their first major success with the national team.
“I’m still gonna give what I have, I’m gonna give the experience. If they want me to talk to them as a professional, of course I will. On the pitch, I need to set an example for them to follow,” she said.
“I’ll try to give all I have, all I’ve learnt from the past few years I’ve been in the game. I’ll bring it in, let’s see where it goes.”
Speaking on the AFCON, Ordega acknowledged that other teams are also aiming for the title, but affirmed that the Super Falcons will be determined to come out on top: “We want to win, nobody wants to go to a battle and lose. Everybody wants to win, other countries are going there to win as well so of course that should be at the back of our mind that this is what we want to do.”
“Most of these young girls have not tasted that victory yet, they don’t know what it is. I think they have so much in them that they want to fight this time. We lost the last time, but this year, we want them to have that feel.”
“For me, it’s not enough, I can win 10 or 20. Most of them haven’t even gotten 1 yet so it’s my wish and prayer that they should feel what it is to be an African champion.”
The 13th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is scheduled to hold in Morocco from July 5th to 26th. The Super Falcons will play all their group stage matches at the Larbi Zaouli stadium, facing Tunisia, Botswana and Algeria on the 6th, 10th and 13th of July respectively.
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