The 8th edition of Africa's premier tournament for women is slated for Equatorial Guinea from October 28 to November 11, 2012, and will see 8 teams fight for the title of Africa's Best Team.
Nkwocha, who scored 11 goals in the last edition held in South Africa, where the Super Falcons went on to reclaim the title for a record 6th time, has positively stated her resolve to record a higher number than that achieved in 2010.
"As a striker, I always want to score goals. My focus is on scoring for my team. Last time (in South Africa 2010), I ended up with 11 goals. I have to top that in Equatorial Guinea.
"My target is 15 goals. I have been training and practising hard for this tournament and I believe I will score loads of goals for my country."
Regrets
The four-time African Women's Player of the Year recalled her disappointment with finishing on 19 goals for her Swedish club, Sunnana SK - a performance that helped the division-two side gain promotion into the top division.
"In my club in Sweden, I scored 22 goals in 20 games last season. This season I only scored 19 goals for my club. That was not good enough for me." She said.
"I should have scored more than 22. I have to improve every year and that is exactly what I plan to do in the AWC. I have to score more than the 11 I got in 2010."
Assists will do
She added: "If I don't get the goals, I will be happy for someone in the team to get the goals while I get the assists. The important thing is to win our games and retain the title. We play as a team, we score as a team and we win as a team."
The 36-year-old striker will lead the Falcons attack in Equatorial Guinea as the team fights to win the title for the 7th time.
The Super Falcons will play their first match against Cameroon on Monday October 29 by 2.30pm local time.
By Joshua Odeyemi
Namibia:Cosafa U-20 Youth Cup Called Off
After months of hard work, organizers of the annual Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) Youth Cup regrettably announced that the popular youth tournament is not going to see the light of day this year."We are forced to face the reality of not being in a position this year to stage the Cosafa U-20 tournament. Whilst we had the Ekurhuleni Municipality (Johannesburg) on board as a host, they were only providing the infrastructure. What we have been trying to put in place these past four months was a commercial sponsor to provide the balance of the funding required," reads a statement by Cosafa.
Emy Caseletti-Bwalya has met with Telkom South Africa who have intimated their interest in partnering with Cosafa, but not in the short-term and not in 2012.
Once the Telkom Charity Knock-Out is over, Emy will re-engage with them with a proposal in the hopes of bringing them onboard for a 3-year period commencing in 2013.
"However, this does not and should not preclude any of our member associations from bidding to host the 2013 or 2014 competition and all countries are encouraged to do so on the basis of the Hosting Requirements document sent out last year and working hand in hand with the Secretariat and Marketing/Finance Committees to raise the additional revenue required."
In the meantime, Cosafa promised to service its mandate to youth football through the organization of the Men's U-17 and the Women's U-20 competitions during the upcoming Zone VI Games in Zambia, slated for December 7-17, 2012.
The following countries have confirmed their participation:
Angola - (Men), Botswana (Men and Women), Lesotho (Men), Malawi (Men), Mauritius (Men), Namibia (Men and Women), Seychelles (Men), South Africa (Men and Women), Swaziland (Men), Zambia (Men and Women) and Zimbabwe (Men and Women).
SOUTH AFRICA
The South African women’s side say they are ready to represent COSAFA at the 2012 African Women’s Championships to be played in Equatorial Guinea from October 28 to November 11.
The 21-member Banyana Banyana squad is scheduled to fly out of Johannesburg on Friday, to continue their preparations in hot, climatic conditions in Cameroon, before flying to Equatorial Guinea on October 25. Banyana have been drawn in Group A and will face hosts Equatorial Guinea in Malabo on October 28, Senegal in Malabo on October 31, and will travel to Bata for their encounter with DR Congo on November 3.
Qualification from the group stage will see the side play in the semi-finals in either Malabo or Bata on November 7, with the 3rd/4th place playoff and the title decider both scheduled for Malabo on November 11. Banyana Banyana obtained their best placed finish at the CAF African Women Championship 2000, going down 2-0 to hosts Nigeria, and lost 2-1 in the final of the 2008 African showpiece to hosts Equatorial Guinea. At the CAF African Women Championship 2010 held in Ekurhuleni near Johannesburg, the South Africans ended third.
The travelling party includes most of the players who represented South Africa at the London Olympics in July, plus three new caps in the Durban Ladies pair of striker Silindile Ngubane and defender Charlotte Mshengu, plus Women’s Under 17 National Team goalkeeper Katlego Moletsane from the High Performance Centre in Tshwane. Ngubane, who netted the equaliser in South Africa’s 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe in an international friendly played in Daveyton near Johannesburg on Tuesday, has proved her worth with a high work rate and goal-scoring keenness during her two caps as a second half substitute over the past week.
She was drafted into the national team camp at the start of October after being identified at the Sasol League National Championships held in Durban in July where she finished as the tournament’s top goal-scorer, having netted 11 goals for Durban Ladies. “Banyana Banyana go to the CAF African Women Championship 2012 ranked 56th in the world and 4th in Africa with our world ranking having improved by five places after our matches played at the Olympics,” said Banyana Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza.
“Safa and Sasol need to be thanked for their commitment in allowing the Banyana Banyana players to stay in camp for the entire October to prepare for the CAF African Women Championship 2012, and we hope that we can do South Africa proud and move a few further spots up the world rankings.”
No comments:
Post a Comment