In what is an antithesis of her moniker, marvellous Mercy Idoko has been anything but merciful to Nigeria’s opponents in the ongoing Under 20 women’s world cup qualifying campaign.
In 5 games, this remorseless sniper found the back of the net an amazing 5 times. Actually, it could have been way more had Congo not decided to do a no-show for their second leg qualifier after the Falconets took them to the cleaners in the first leg with 4 unreplied goals (in their own backyard).
The Nasarawa Amazons sharpshooter was the lady of the match in the 4-0 dismantling of CAR in the second round return leg of their qualifiers at the MJ Arena, Onikan Lagos on the 6th of October 2021. This feat earned the budding striker the prize money of -N- 500,000 for her eloquent and exemplary display.
Mercy Idoko embodies everything one would expect of a modern day center forward. Her speed, strength, physicality, power, aerial prowess, precision, pace and killer instincts put her on par with many ruthless strikers of her peers currently in world football.
Not to take any shine off her teammates, this current Falconets squad have been amazing in the prosecution of their world cup qualifying campaign. From Onyenezide to Lawal to Adoo, other midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers that have kept clean sheets across 5 games, their overall performances have been sublime.
They have all played with conviction and character. These ladies have nailed their performances across the park.
The coaches have also done an amazing job in producing a tight, compact and well designed Falconets outfit.
In Senegal, they will find worthy opponents. From what I saw from them against Morocco, they are technical, tactical, tenacious, positionally disciplined, focuses and hungry for succes.
Their elder sisters just qualified for the Women’s Afcon after a tensed penalty standoff against Mali. So these young Senegalese ladies will be hoping to make it a brace of qualifier victories by attempting to leapfrog Nigeria’s Falconets to world cup qualification.
So the Falconets cannot afford to rest on their laurels. Based on how they have performed in the previous games, aggregate victory against Senegal should not be beyond them.
Should the Nigerian ladies resist biting on the the ampoules of complacency and stay razor focused, victory should be theirs across the 2 legs.
And it will be bloody brilliant!
This Saturday’s clash at the Stade Lat-Dior in Thies (outside Dakar) will kick off at 4.30pm Senegal time (5.30pm Nigeria time).
FALCONETS IN DAKAR TO BATTLE SENEGAL Goalkeepers: Nelly Ekeh (Sunshine Queens); Monle Oyono (Bayelsa Queens); Inyene Etim (Abia Angels) Defenders: Oluwatosin Demehin (Rivers Angels); Omowunmi Oshobukola (Edo Queens); Rofiat Imuran (Rivers Angels); Jumoke Alani (Edo Queens); Motunrayo Ezekiel (Naija Ratels); Oluwabunmi Oladeji (Nasarawa Amazons); Oluchi Ohaegbulem (Confluence Queens); Chidinma Ogbuchi (FC Robo Queens) Midfielders: Bashirat Amoo (Nasarawa Amazons); Esther Onyenezide (FC Robo Queens); Adoo Yina (Nasarawa Amazons); Deborah Abiodun (Rivers Angels); Chinyere Kalu (Nasarawa Amazons); Anuoluwapo Salisu (Bayelsa Queens) Forwards: Joy Jerry (Bayelsa Queens); Mercy Idoko (Nasarawa Amazons); Flourish Sebastine (Bayelsa Queens); Taiwo Lawal (FC Robo Queens); Blessing Okpe (Rivers Angels); Tessy Ojiyovwi (Nasarawa Amazons)
Copyright Notice: unauthorized use of this material is strictly prohibited