Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has hit back at his critics after guiding the team to secure qualification for the women’s football event of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Waldrum’s side defeated South Africa by a lone goal in the first leg of the final qualifying round in Abuja before holding Banyana Banyana to a goalless draw in Pretoria on Tuesday to seal an Olympics spot.
Nigeria showed great resilience against their opponents, with goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie producing several brilliant saves to keep them in the game.
The Super Falcons eventually managed to shut out South Africa within 90 minutes to record a 1-0 aggregate victory and deny Banyana Banyana a ticket to the Olympics in the process.
Waldrum leads Super Falcons to first Olympics qualification in 16 years
Nigeria’s qualification to the Olympics in Paris marks the country’s first successful attempt since 2008 after suffering successive heartbreak in their previous three attempts.
The Super Falcons crashed out to Cameroon during the qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics, before being knocked out by Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast in the qualifiers for the last two editions of the global showpiece.
Having ended Nigeria’s 16-year wait to return to the Olympics, Waldrum used the opportunity to hit back at his critics. The 67-year-old lauded the media for their positive reportage on the Super Falcons but singled out an unnamed journalist for criticism, accusing him of doubting the team.
“So many thoughts going through my mind right now. For example, we have one male journalist back in Nigeria that seems to want to derail what we have done and has doubted what we can do,” Waldrum said at a post-match press conference, excerpts of which were shared on X by Nigerian journalist Osasu Obayiuwana.
“I think that journalist knows who I’m talking about. I’m very happy that we can prove him wrong, that he can’t destroy us, because in general, the media has been fantastic to our team and very supportive.
“And I appreciate that so much from the media that understands what we’re trying to accomplish and believes in what we’ve been doing over the last year in building this team, not only for the World Cup but for this [Olympics] qualification.”
Super Falcons paired in tough Olympics group
Meanwhile, after booking their place at the Olympics, Nigeria have been paired in a very tough group, alongside Spain, Japan and Brazil.
In their quest to win gold, the Super Falcons would have to navigate their way out of Group C, which has been dubbed the ‘Group of Death' due to Spain being the current world champions while Brazil and Japan are both former world champions.
With three months to the start of the Olympics, Waldrum has appealed to the Sports Ministry and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure the team gets proper preparation. He cited training and transportation as key things that must be put in place for the Super Falcons to have the best preparation ahead of the Olympics.
“The other thing I would say that is on my mind, my plea and my challenge, is to the Ministry of Sports and to the Federation to help prepare properly,” Waldrum said.
“We need to camp in Europe to prepare for the group that we have. We need proper training, we need proper transportation, we need to do things right because these women deserve this opportunity to represent our country Nigeria in the best possible way.”
Waldrum has now led Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup and the Olympics since taking charge in October 2020. The University of Pittsburgh coach is, however, yet to win a major trophy with the West African giants.
