Turbulence In Super Falcon's Camp,Mighty Warriors Rejoice

Two days after Ghana booted out Nigeria's Super Falcons out of the All Africa Games qualifiers,the technical committee of the Nigerian Football Federation are set to meet over the future of coach Eucharia Uche. Sources at the NFF secretariat  in Abuja,Nigeria say that Uche will have the choice of either working under a new coach or resigning as head coach of the Super Falcons.

Eucharia Uche 

Events brewing after the first leg  1-1 drawn game against Ghana led to the surfacing of reports about indiscipline   within the team and Eucharia Uche's failure to address a catalogue of problems as any head coach would.The source also made mention of a situation where a senior player of the Falcons would take no instruction from the coach and would train only when she sees fit.

 To compound matters, the Super Falcons are said to be dissatisfied with the role played by Uche when the NFF let go of long time assistants Annie Chiejine(an ex-international) and Gidado Usman way back in March.Uche denied knowledge of the NFF directive although she was privy to the information.She later accused the fired assistants of abandoning ship. With the FIFA women's world cup only a month away, the NFF will have to find a solution to the problems plaguing the Super Falcons as soon as possible or risk major disappointment in Germany come June 26th.

Paul Hamilton

Former coach of the Falcons,Paul Hamilton showed his concern about the current plight of the Super Falcons in an interview when he said "We have relaxed too much, pretending that we do not know that other countries are catching up with us and Ghana has just served the notice.”Coach Hamilton sounded a note of caution to the NFF about the firing of Eucharia Uche,the very same person who won Nigeria the 2010 Africa Women's Championship title in South Africa.
Hamilton laid bare the fact that Nigeria's preparation has not been satisfactory lately and that the NFF took women's soccer for granted.He advised the technical committee of the NFF to spend more time in salvaging the image of the Super Falcons instead of pointing  accusatory fingers at the coaching staff.



Zimbabwe's Mighty Warriors Stock Rising,Women's League To Be Revived

Mighty Warriors Fans celebrate

Exactly one year after the Mavis Gumbo-led executive were ushered into office to revive the country’s women football fortunes, the progress has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Gumbo came into office in March last year against a backdrop of stunted growth, lack of corporate confidence and structures. Save for leagues in Harare and Bulawayo, there was nothing to talk about in terms of women football.

However, 12 months later, the executive can stand up and be counted among football structures in the country that have repositioned themselves.

The 2-0 victory for the national women football team against the Angolans on Sunday afternoon at Rufaro Stadium that gave the team a ticket to the Zone VI All-Africa Games finals to be held in Mozambique later this year completed a stunning comeback for a team that had since been long forgotten on the international scene.

“This has been a long journey which I should admit has not been smooth but with the support and help I have been getting from a lot of people behind the scenes, we have made it. I owe this (Mighty Warriors qualification) to them. After one year in office at least we have done something and even if I were to die today, I know I have achieved something,” said Gumbo.

The last time the Mighty Warriors took part in the All-Africa Games was in 2003 in Nigeria but it was on invite.

The Mighty Warriors are likely to be paired at the All-Africa Games with past nemesis South Africa who bulldozed their way past Botswana with a 4-0 win or Ghana who upset favourites Nigerian in other qualifiers that were played on Sunday.

Gumbo and her executive have also managed to revive the national women league which is expected to roar into life end of this month.

The league will comprise 12 teams to be selected from three provinces, the Eastern, the Southern and the Northern regions. The three provinces will provide four teams each.

story by :HENRY MHARA