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By: Ebenezer Bajela.
Despite the uncertainty over his future as the head coach of Nigeria’s women’s senior national team, Randy Waldrum says he has been in contact with more US-based Nigerian players, who are eager to play for the Falcons, The PUNCH reports.
Waldrum was appointed as Super Falcons head coach in 2020 and the arrival of the Irving, Texas-born tactician has paved way for the arrival of several US-born Nigerian stars.
Michelle Alozie, Esther Okoronkwo, Ifeoma Onumonu, Yewande Balogun, Toni Payne, Jennifer Echegini and Nicole Payne are all US-born players who all made their debuts for Nigeria following the appointment of Waldrum.
Despite fumbling at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco last year, many of them appear to have found cohesion over the course of the ongoing tournament.
Unbeaten in their group stage matches, against teams ranked significantly higher than them, the Falcons finished second in their group behind Australia, knocking out former Olympic champions Canada and World Cup first-timers Ireland to secure a spot in the tournament’s knockout stage, where they now face England.
Despite facing challenges and disagreements with the Nigeria Football Federation over interference and unpaid salaries, Waldrum’s lads’ performance throughout their first three games have spoken volumes.
“I’ve had some U-17 coaches reach out about players they have, a couple of really good U-20 players that are playing in the US that now want to be connected to Nigeria,” he said.
“We also have those connections in England. There are a few players there that I’m already looking at to bring to the Olympics and so forth. I think it’s a huge plus.”
On the FIFA rankings that placed Nigeria as the 40th-best team in the world, Waldrum added that the team was underappreciated.
“I think we’ve shown that we’re a better team than 40th in the world,” Waldrum said.
“I think we’re underestimated and under-appreciated.”