Cruz Azul of Mexico striker Uchenna Kanu has disclosed that she and her colleagues in Nigeria’s female national team will go all out and try to do their best in order to get a victory against South Africa on Thursday at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2026).
Sports247 reports that Thursday’s game is a crucial play-off to determine one of two teams to pick 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification play-off tickets, and the 29-year-old striker, who grew up in Aba, acknowledged that the Falcons must not lose the dicey fixture.
Kanu, who previously played for Southeastern Fire, Pensacola, Sevilla, Linköpings, UANL and Racing Louisville, admitted she and the other Nigerian players are disappointed and sad that they could not pick a direct ticket to the World Cup, hence their determination to make amends.
She recalled that they were weeping after Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Cameroon in the quarterfinals, which knocked them out of WAFCON 2026 and saw Nigeria fail to reach the World Cup for the first time since the competition began in 1991, but asserted that they are ready to fly high again.
Kanu stressed that their focus is fully on the upcoming game and assured, “We would take it as a lesson learned, and we build with it, and we look forward to putting everything right on Thursday. We’ll be leaving everything on the field on Thursday against South Africa. We will always try to do our best.
“Our main focus right now would be on Thursday’s game and, hopefully, we’ll progress from there. Hopefully, by the end of the game on Thursday, we will feel alive again. Right now, emotions are very down. We’re putting in our best, and we hope to eventually secure the ticket for the 2027 World Cup.”
