Toni Payne is not taking Cape Verde for granted as the Super Falcons prepare to take on the tiny island nation in the first leg of the final qualification round for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations at the Moshood Abiola Stadium on Thursday.
The Falcons advanced to this stage without kicking a ball after Sao Tome and Principe withdrew from the previous round. The nine-time champions are considered as clear favourites for Thursday’s tie as an aggregate victory will see them through to next year’s finals in Morocco.
Payne however remains confident the team can get the desired result even as they will be missing star players such as Asisat Oshoala, Michelle Alozie, Ashleigh Plumptre and Jennifer Echegini.
“Now we are in warm weather. It is nice to be back in Nigeria and to be back with the Super Falcons and be ready to pick on the next opponent for the qualifiers,” Payne told the press after a training session in Abuja.
“Obviously, because we haven’t played Cape Verde [before], we definitely can’t take them for granted. We can see we had the away match for the Olympic qualifiers against Ethiopia. All teams are improving and getting better so we have to play our best [against Cape Verde].
“It’s unfortunate not to have our players in the team for this camp but we also have very good players like Gift Monday, Uchenna [Kalu], so we are very confident going into this match.”
Embracing the return to work with a refreshing recovery session at camp.
???????? We are ready to conquer the week ahead!✌️#SoarSuperFalcons| #WAFCON2024 | #WAFCONQ| #NGACAP| pic.twitter.com/wcv7axFW8k
— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) November 26, 2023
Payne on a final note had a message for the Nigerian fans. She said: “Nigerians do come out and support us. We will build on what we’ve done last time and put on a good performance for the fans.”
Following the conclusion of Thursday’s game, the second leg will take place in the Cape Verde capital city of Praia next Tuesday.
