5 Steps To Return Super Falcons To Glory

The Super Falcons, for the second time in a row, will not be at the Olympic Games no thanks to their 2-1 loss to Equatorial Guinea in Bata on Sunday. The team suffered the same fate during the qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympic when they lost to Cameroon in a penalty shootout.

Not a few people saw this coming especially after the team’s poor performance at the Women’s World Cup in Canada where they finished bottom of their group.

It is believed in some quarters that the death of Gracious Ajujobi, media officer of the team, few days to the first leg clash against Equatorial could be attributed to their ouster. But truth must be told, the Falcons are fast losing their status as the strongest team in Africa, as the gap between them and the other teams is now just the amount of Africa Women Championships they’ve won.

But all hope is not yet lost. It is believed that certain things just need to be put in place for the team to start firing again. In this piece, completesportsnigeria.com’s JAMES AGBEREBI, outlines FIVE important steps on how the Falcons can get back to reckoning.

Falcons Coach Blames Referee For Loss Against E/Guinea

Super Falcons interim coach, Christopher Danjuma, has cited poor officiating as the reason for the team's elimination in the qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The African champions lost 2-1 in extra-time to Equatorial Guinea on Sunday and crashed 3-2 on aggregate.

Reacting to the Falcons ouster, Danjuma told  88.9, Brila that everything was going to plan before the referee started making questionable calls.

"We had our game plan which the players were executing perfectly on the field of play which eventually saw us take the lead," Danjuma, who replaced Edwin Okon after the Women's World Cup, said.

"But in the second half, the referee became funny as she started making questionable calls which eventually led to the goals scored by the Equatorial Guineans."

Meanwhile, the team will embark on a one-week break before commencing preparation for the All Africa Games.

Bayana Captain Regrets Not Defeating Falcons

South Africa's women's national team's captain, Janine Van Wyk has expressed her disappointment following the Super Falcons exit from the qualifying series for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by Equatorial Guinea, thus denying her an opportunity to defeat their arch-rivals in the final qualifying round.

The African Champions were knocked out of the qualifiers by Equatorial Guinea who handed them a 2-1 defeat on Sunday, in Bata, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

That defeat denied Bayana the opportunity to come up  against their old nemesis in the final qualifying round, a situation Van Wyk is not happy with.

''I said to my teammates I wanted Nigeria in the next round.

"I think this team is ready to face Nigeria and beat them, but now we have to face Equatorial Guinea," Van Wyk told Safa.net.

It is the second time in a row that  the Super Falcons will not participate in the football event of the Olympic Games as they had also failed to make it to London 2012.