TheCable

The 9th African Women Championship kicks off in Namibia Saturday, October 11, 2014 with hosts Namibia facing Zambia in the opening match and Super Falcons tackling Ivory Coast as well.

Ahead of the games, here is a numerical guide to the competition, courtesy of Cafonline.com.

1 – Hosts Namibia and Zambia are making their maiden appearances at the biennial championships. The two teams will incidentally face off in the opening match of the tournament.

2 – ‘Les Elephantes’ of Cote d’Ivoire will be making their second appearance at the final tournament. The Ivorians, debutants at the 2012 edition, edged holders Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers, ensuring that for the first time in the history of the championship, the title holder will play no part in the final tournament.

3 – The top three finishers will qualify to represent the continent at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. It will be the first time three African teams will qualify for the Women’s Mundial. Previously, it was only the winners and the losing finalists that qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Also three female coaches will be guiding their teams at the tournament. They are Jacqueline Chipanga (Namibia), Clementine Toure (Cote d’Ivoire) and Vera Pauw (South Africa).

6 – The Super Falcons of Nigeria have emerged champions a record six times (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010)

7 – It is the seventh time the Black Queens of Ghana will be appearing at the final tournament. The previous appearances of the Ghanaians were 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.

8 – The eight participating teams are Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.

9 – Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa are making a record ninth appearance at the championship. The three teams have appeared in every edition of the championship since its inception in 1998.

16 – At 16 years, 11 months and 18 days, Zambian goalkeeper Wendy Kunda is the youngest player at the tournament. Other young players are midfielder Annouscka Kordom of Namibia (17 years, 1 month, 29 days) and Nadege Cisse of Cote d’Ivoire (17 years, 6 months, 7 days).

20 – The number of players registered by Cote d’Ivoire for the championship. The seven others submitted 21 players each as per the regulations.

38 – Nigeria forward Perpetua Nkwocha is the oldest player at the championship at 38 years, 9 months, 7 days. The Sweden-based player is making a record eighth appearance having participated at every edition since 2000. A four-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year (2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011), she also has five winners medals to her credit.

167 – A total of 167 players are registered for registered for the tournament.