Mercy Akide tasks NFF on early World Cup preparations for Super Falcons
Ex-International Mercy Akide-Udoh has charged Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure they outline adequate and early plans for the female national team’s programme towards next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Although NFF top shots say they have already arranged for the Falcons to play invitational competitions in Cyprus and China, Akide-Udoh said the federation should do everything to ensure proper preparation is set in motion for the national team.
The 8th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals will take place in nine French cities between 7th June and 7th July 2019, ahead of which the former Falcons Number 10 opined that the NFF must hit the ground running with proper planning.
Nigeria’s first match will be against Norway in Reims on June 8, before they play Korea Republic in Grenoble on June 12, and their last match of the group phase is against the hosts, France in Rennes on 17th June.
Akide-Udoh, who flew into France from United States of America and attended the ceremony as a FIFA Ambassador for Women’s Football, insists only adequate preparations can make Nigeria scale through.
The former African Female Footballer of The Year added: “This is a tough one for us. But I think the Federation should do everything to ensure adequate preparation of the team.”