Nigeria began their quest for a place in next year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) with a 5-0 thumping of Cape Verde at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Thursday.
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Uchenna Kanu and Esther Okoronkwo scored a brace each while Monday Gift got a goal as the Super Falcons recorded an emphatic win over the minnows.
As expected, the record WAFCON holders started the game on a sound note and did not take time before Kanu opened the score sheet. She tapped in from close range just seven minutes into the game.
Although Cape Verde rallied to balance the score, goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie made a stunning 16th-minute save to deny them.
Nine minutes later, the Nigerian girls were the beneficiary of a goalmouth scramble with Gift bundling the ball home to double the Super Falcons’ lead. Rasheedat Ajibade shot inches wide in the 33rd minute.
But Kanu was not done yet. She converted a Toni Payne cross just at the 45-minute mark to make it three for the home side.
Nigeria continued to press the Cape Verdian ladies upon resumption of the second half. But it took a 66th-minute effort from substitute Esther Okoronkwo – who came in for Gift – for the Super Falcons to get their fourth goal on the night off Esther Akudo Ogbonna’s cross.
Okoronkwo bagged her brace for the evening eleven minutes later to give Nigeria a fifth goal.
With the job done, interim coach Madugu Justine brought in Tochukwu Oluehi for Nnadozie in goal while Chiamaka Okwuchukwu made her debut when she came on for Esther Akudo.
The second leg of the game will be played on Tuesday in the coastal city of Praia, the Cape Verdian capital. The winner of both fixtures will feature at the 2024 WAFCON in Morrocco.
Thursday’s game was Madugu’s third for the Super Falcons in the continued absence of Head Coach Randy Waldrum.
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