Nigeria’s female national team, Super Falcons, captain Rasheedat Ajibade has acknowledged the role that continued belief in the squad by their fans all across the world plays in securing victory and in helping them overcome Cameroon in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals.
Sports247 reports that, as the Falcons get ready to tango their eternal rivals this Sunday in Rabat, Morocco, the Paris Saint Germaine Feminine of France winger admitted they will again need more support from their fans in order to reach the semi-finals.
Booking a semi-finals’ spot would mean automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, and Ajibade acknolwedged it would be a maassive turnaround for the Nigerian side that lost their first match at WAFCON 2026, when they surprisingly fell 3-2 against Malawi.
That defeat almost cost them a second round spot for the first time in the African championship’s history, as they finished level on three points with Malawi and Zambia, with goals scored by each team then serving as a cutting edge to decide the two qualifiers.
Having scraped through the group stage, Ajibade thanked the backroom staff and coach of the team, Justin Madugu for encouraging the players to romp back, then declared that knowing their fans are eager to see them pull off great results also spurred them into the quarter-finals.
The former FC Robo of Lagos and Atletico Madrid Feminine of Spain winger is now thinking positively ahead of Sunday’s quater-finals fixture versus Cameroon, which she admitted will be another tough outing for the Falcons, but hinted that they will not take their feet off the pedal.
“We made it out of the group stage. (It’s) about everyone pushing us on – our crew, technical team, staff – and every single fan back home believing with us. That’s what collective effort looks like. We fight for each other. Quarter-finals, here we come. The mission continues,” Ajibade submitted.
Sports247 further gathered that, in order to motivate the Falcons to victory over Cameroon, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has announced an increment in what the team will gain for each goal they score, from $5,000 to $10,000.
The comptroller-general of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, who is also the president of Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF), equally promised the team $10,000 per goal.
It was also learnt that, in order to futher motivate the squad, the NSC directed Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay the players full bonuses for all three group matches, including their opening loss to Malawi, followed by victories over Zambia and Egypt.
