The African Women's Championship (AWC) has come and gone, but leaves with sour tastes in the mouth. For the second time, Nigeria has left the competition without the gold, which was its sole preserve ever since the championship started way back in 1991.
The Super Falcons were even beaten 1-0 by Cameroun in the third place final, sending them home empty-handed for the first time ever! and proving that the game of women's football has taken a very long leap forward, leaving Nigeria wallowing in self delusions of glory days long gone.
The Super Falcons struggled to beat Cameroun 2-1 in the group games, and they touted the unplayable nature of the pitch as the cause. They came up against South Africa in the semi-finals and were beaten 1-0, and they touted incapable players as the cause. Now with this loss to Cameroun, I wonder what excuse they'll come up with.
Perhaps critics were right when they questioned the rationale behind giving the head coach job to a man, not just a man, but someone with no experience in coaching female sides - Kadiri Ikhana. Now Nigeria's female football has gone the way of the mens'. Should Eucharia Uche have been left with the job? Should she have been left with her 'meager' allowance as the head coach, instead of the 'millions' given to Ikhana? A man who has now given Nigeria an embarrassing participation in the cometition, a competition hitherto seen as the exclusive preserve of Nigeria.
And to think that Perpetua Nkwocha threatened to score 15 goals in the tournament!
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