Wednesday 5 December 2018

COACHES THAT HAVE WON THE AWCON TITLE WITH THE SUPER FALCONS OF NIGERIA.


It's no longer news that the super Falcons of Nigeria has been crowned African women champions for the 9th time since the inception of the African women championship. But many times, successful teams are celebrated with little acknowledgement of the coach even when such coaches are quickly blamed when the team performs woefully.  Since their first conquest of the African continent in 1998, here are coaches that have won the AWC with the Nigerian team.

1998, Ismaila Mabo
Mabo won the Then African Women Championship with the Super Falcons of Nigeria in a tournament that was hosted in Nigeria in 1998. He guided them till their victory over the Black Queens of Ghana.
                    

                                              Ismaila Mabo
2000, Ismaila Mabo.
Again Mabo was in charge in 2000 when Nigeria ruled Africa. The competition was held in South Africa and Nigeria won by 2:0 before trouble started. Fans threw stones and bottle water and other objects into the stadium after Nigeria's second goal. was never completed in the history of the competition as it was stopped with 28 minutes left to play. Mabo is the most successful Super Falcons coach as he guided Nigeria to two African titles and reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1999.

                        

                                               Ismaila Mabo
2002, Samuel Okpodu
In 2002, the former Bendel Insurance attacker was drafted to tinker the team. He won the AWC title that was hosted in Nigeria beatin
beating the Black Queens of Ghana 2:0 at the Warri Township Stadium. But Okpodu and his girls failed to put up a good showing at the 2003 Fifa Womens World Cup.
              

                                           Samuel Okpodu.

2004, Godwin Izilien
Coach Godwin Izilien led the team to their fourth AWC title in Johannesburg, South Africa. Izilien and his players fought and won the battle, beating the Lionesses of Cameroun 5-0 in the final with Perpetua Nkwocha accounting for four goals plus a late strike from pocket dynamite, Vera Okolo. Sad enough, it was later discovered that Izilien and his coaching staff were owed backlog of salaries.
                                  Godwin Izilien

2006, Ntiero Effiom
Effiom Ntiero of blessed memory led the the Super Falcons of Nigeria to their fifth straight AWC that was hosted in Nigeria. The Akwa Ibom gaffer saw Nigeria defeat Ghana 1:0 at the Warri Township Stadium to clinch the title. 25,000 people watched the match, which was described by the BBC as "a drab encounter". Both teams qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China which he also guided them to. Ntiero died on November 11 2014,at the age of 59.
     
                Ntiero Effiom

2010, Eucharia Uche
After a not good performance at the 2008 edition of AWC, Eucheria Uche was appointed the coach of the Super Falcons and guided the team to victory in South Africa. Nigeria defeated Equatorial Guinea by 5:2  at the Sinaba Stadium, Daveyton. She was Nigeria's first female coach for the Super Falcons who won the AWC as a player and a coach. She qualified Nigeria to the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, in which she made a remark that homosexuality a "dirty issue" and "spiritually wrong". A statement she was thoroughly cautioned of by Fifa.                     

                              Eucheria Uche
2014, Edwin Okon
Coach Edwin Okon who led the Falconets to the semi finals of the Fifa U20 World Cup was appointed coach of the Super Falcons after the sack of Eucheria and he guided the team to win the 2014 AWC in Namibia. Nigeria defeated Cameroun 2:0 at the Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek, Namibia to lift the trophy. Okon later led the Super Falcons to the 2015 World Cup in Canada where they crashed out in the first round.

                                            Edwin Okon

2016, Florence Omagbemi
Florence Omagbemi a former Super Falcons international was drafted to tinker the team after the abysmal performance of the team at the 2015 Fifa Womens World Cup in China. Florence Omagbemi guided the team to their 8th African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) as it was renamed by CAF. Nigeria again, defeated the Lionesses of Cameroun 0:1 in front of their crowd at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé. 

                             Florence Omagbemi

2018, Thomas Dennerby
After the Unceremonious dismissal of Florence Omagbemi and her coaching crew, The NFF appointed Swedish coach Thomas Dennerby to lead the Super Falcons. The Swede who has coached the Swedish national team and led them to a third place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Dennerby recently guided the Super Falcons to their 9th AWCON title in Ghana where they edged South Africa 4:3 on penalties at the Accra Sports Stadium, Accra. Thomas Dennerby baring any issues, will lead the team to the 2019 Fifa Womens World Cup in France.

                                    Thomas Dennerby
We wish the Falcons good luck in 2019 Fifa Womens World Cup in France and we call for early and proper preparation to surpass the Quarter final they earned in 1999.

Princewill Chimereze.
@P_Chimereze
Writer, Public Affairs Analyst and Social Commentator