The General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mohammed Sanusi, has congratulated Super Falcons’ forward, Rasheedat Ajibade for emerging joint top-scorer of the just-concluded Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.
While qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the Falcons failed to retain the title they won in Ghana in 2019 to claim their 10th WAFCON title.
Their misery was compounded after losing to Zambia in their bid to win a consolatory bronze medal without key players such as Ajibade, Halimatu Ayinde and captain Onome Ebi.
Despite missing out on the third-place defeat against Zambia after being shown a straight red card in the semi-final clash against Morocco, the Atletico Madrid star ended the 12th edition of WAFCON with three goals, the same number of goals as Moroccan captain, Ghizlane Chebbak and South Africa’s Hilda Magaia.
Sanusi however congratulated Ajibade following her feat in Morocco.
“We rejoice with Rahseedat Ajibade for her emergence as joint top-scorer of the tournament and we implore her to continue to show even more prolificity and commitment in the jerseys of club and country,” Sanusi said.
“Her three goals surely helped the Super Falcons to win a World Cup ticket. Our team would certainly have been in the Final if not for the incident that led to her expulsion in the semi-final match against the host nation.
“She probably would have won the award outright if she finished the game and played one more match.”
Sanusi also congratulated Mimisen Calvin-Onwuka, who played the role of Assistant Referee 1 in the Final match between Morocco and South Africa on Saturday, saying her stellar performance alongside referee Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda did not go unnoticed by the global football community.
He urged her to continue to develop herself with available top-level courses and programmes in order to continue her rise to global reckoning.
Credit: punchng.com
