On Thursday, the Super Falcons will seek to consolidate their hold on Group B of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) when they take on Botswana.
The two sides met most recently in the last edition, where Nigeria came out victorious thanks to goals from Ifeoma Onumonu and Christy Ucheibe. A repeat would be welcome in Casablanca, but coach Justin Madugu will surely hope for a more fluent outing from his side on the second pass.
While their win over Tunisia was comfortable, there were still inefficiencies that could have been avoided, especially with better selection choices and/or tactical decisions. Here are three such changes that the Super Falcons could make to look smoother.
Drop Deborah Abiodun
No disrespect to Abiodun who, on her day, is extremely useful, but it is hard to argue the Super Falcons need her against some of the weakest teams in the competition.
Her talents are best utilised in service of winning a midfield battle, especially as it appears her aptitude in possession has suffered a bit of regression. Against opponents that will sit deep-ish and seek to protect their box, as well as the edge of it, starting ‘Baby Kante’ seems superfluous: as if to underline the point, she came perilously close to a sending off against Tunisia. Keep her dry until the later rounds.
Throwback to #WAFCON2022 in Rabat.
Goals from Ifeoma Onumonu and Christy Ucheibe sealed a 2-0 win over Botswana.
Same fixture loading tomorrow… 👀#WAFCON2024 #MissionX #SoarSuperFalcons pic.twitter.com/cJ3Io2x0iy
— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) July 9, 2025
For Super Falcons’ sake, figure out the Ajibade-Payne axis
For anyone who has been paying attention, it is obvious that Rasheedat Ajibade and Toni Payne love to play close to one another. Over the course of their time together in the Super Falcons, this has meant one playing on the flank, with the other, either an 8 or 10, gravitating toward the same wing.
If the goal is to be braver and drop Abiodun, then here is a radical idea: play them both in midfield as no.8s in a proper 4-3-3. Payne’s ability within the lines would do far better to grease Nigeria’s wheels than her stuck out wide. It would also have the healthy side effect of keeping Asisat Oshoala inside the box – her trampoline first touches when dropping deep were painful to watch against Tunisia.
Open out the pitch with Okoronkwo
If you do away with sticking one of Payne or Ajibade out wide, who takes up the spot on the right then? Esther Okoronkwo, that’s who.
While her Man of the Match award from the Tunisia match should arguably have gone to Rinsola Babajide, the AFC Toronto forward was excellent after coming on at half-time. Her performance opens up real possibilities for the Super Falcons, and if the two standout players in the opening game can tag team out wide and stretch Botswana, it would not only give the two no.8s more space to work with between the lines, but it would serve as a reliable, consistent supply line to Oshoala upfront.
